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Summary: A 48-year-old lawyer was convicted of filming an underage girl changing inside of a locker room.
An Illinois lawyer was convicted on Friday of making child pornography in 2009. Attorney James T. Zeas was sentenced after he shot a secret video of a 14-year-old girl changing inside of a fitness center, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Judge Michael Feetterer of McHenry County said that Zeas, 48 from Crystal Lake, had created the “voyeur” tape to “illicit a sexual response.” The video was found in 2011 by Zea’s then wife, and prosecutors said that the teenager’s breasts were exposed as she changed out of a swimsuit.
Zeas’ lawyer Barry Lewis said that Zeas’ now ex-wife faked the video, and he said it was suspicious that she had allegedly found the tape in 2011 but had held onto it for years. According to Lewis, she had not gone to the authorities until 2015, the year the couple were in the midst of a divorce and custody battle.
However, Assistant State Attorney Kate Lenhard said that the tape was real and that Zeas could be seen on the video adjusting the camera.
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“He took the innocence of a child. … He manufactured that into a voyeuristic (video) … that he then kept,” Lenhard said.
Judge Feetterer announced his verdict on Friday, and Zeas’ bond was revoked. He will be sentenced on March 29 and he could face 15 years in prison.
According to Zeas’ LinkedIn, he attended Northwestern University School of Law and worked at law firms such as Paul Hastings and Dentons.
Source: The Chicago Tribune
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