A Louisiana appeals court has breathed new life into a sprawling video voyeurism case, reinstating 98 counts against 45-year-old New Orleans resident Jeffrey Darlak and sending the matter back to Orleans Parish Criminal District Court for the next round of legal sparring. The decision puts most of the more than 120 original counts back in play and revives a probe that prosecutors say stretches across years and dozens of secretly recorded images and videos.
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit ruled that the clock to file certain charges stopped running when one victim discovered images stored in a cloud folder in early 2022, a key point in the dispute over timing. Judge Tiffany Chase authored the opinion, joined by Judges Sandra Jenkins and Monique Morial, and the panel laid out specific instructions for how the trial court should move forward. Those findings and the court’s order were reported by NOLA.com.
What prosecutors allege
According to prosecutors, Darlak secretly recorded "nude photos and videos" of at least seven women while they were unconscious. Investigators say they later recovered files that included at least three videos depicting a woman being raped while unconscious. These details come from charging documents and affidavits described by NOLA.com.
Statute, penalties and time limits
Louisiana's video voyeurism statute has gone through multiple revisions in recent years and now carries potentially steep penalties, which sit at the center of the appeals fight over when counts are timely. Depending on the facts of a case, a conviction for video voyeurism can bring years of hard labor. Those statutory tweaks have complicated how both sides argue time-bar issues and retroactivity in cases that rely on old recordings and newly discovered digital footprints. For background on the statute and sentencing ranges see Recording Law.
What happens next
The case now heads back to Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, where a trial judge will deal with scheduling, division assignment and the next wave of pretrial motions. The court, located at 2700 Tulane Avenue, maintains dockets and filing information on its public website, where any new filings, hearing dates and rulings will appear as the case moves along.
Local context
The ruling lands at a moment when courts around the region are wrestling with secret-camera footage and cloud-based files that surface years after they were created, stirring up thorny questions about time limits and digital evidence. Similar hidden-camera prosecutions have popped up locally in recent months, underscoring how a few clicks in a cloud account can reopen long-dormant investigations. For one recent example, see reporting on a separate case in the area.
The Fourth Circuit’s decision does not decide guilt or innocence. It simply clears the way for prosecutors to pursue the revived counts in criminal court, where a judge will sort out which charges may go forward and when, and where both the state’s evidence and defense challenges will be tested in open court. No trial date has been set.
