Man accused of secretly recording girls in back-to-school section of Ocala Walmart

OCALA, Fla. — A 32-year-old man has been arrested for secretly filming girls at a Walmart, the Ocala Police Department said Thursday.

▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

Police said that they were called at 7:45 p.m. Aug. 9 to the Walmart on Easy Street near Southwest 27th Avenue after it was discovered that Joshua Gaines was recording the girls.

They said that security footage revealed that Gaines pretended to shop while using a camera hidden in a small black bag to capture video of children “wearing tight or revealing clothing.”

“He aimed the camera to capture video of the children’s private areas,” police said in a Facebook post. “Most of his actions occurred in the back-to-school section, where many young girls were present.”

Read: FDA approves new COVID-19 vaccines

VIDEO: Ocala man facing voyeurism, child porn charges for filming young girls at local Walmart An Ocala man is facing hundreds of charges after police say he was caught using a hidden camera to secretly film young girls at a local Walmart. (Charles Frazier, WFTV.com/WFTV)

Investigators said that Gaines had been previously trespassed from the store in August 2023, when he secretly recorded girls there.

They said that a store “asset protection investigator” called police after recognizing Gaines, who was “showing the same suspicious behavior.”

“The investigation uncovered that Gaines had a GoPro camera and two cellular devices in his possession,” police said in the post.

Read: Ex-teacher receives life sentence for sexual battery conviction

Investigators said that they discovered “multiple media files that indicated a clear pattern of digital voyeurism.”

They said that they found hundreds of pornographic images depicting children as young as six years old.

Gaines faces 10 charges of digital voyeurism and 403 charges of possession of child pornography.

Read: Florida man already on probation for drug trafficking arrested again on similar charges

See a map of the scene below:

See a map of the store below:

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

©2024 Cox Media Group