Harold Perkins, 38, will not be heading to state prison for secretly filming people in public restrooms along the Ocean City boardwalk. On Monday, a Cape May County judge sentenced him to probation after Perkins admitted planting tiny, pen-style cameras in family-style bathrooms at Sixth, Tenth and Eleventh streets, devices that prosecutors say recorded multiple victims, including children. The hearing capped a year-long investigation that started when a beachgoer stumbled on one of the hidden recorders.
Perkins pleaded guilty in May to two counts of fourth-degree invasion of privacy. The judge ordered five years of probation and, according to local reporting, a short jail term with credit for time already served, as reported by 6abc.
How the investigation unfolded
The case began on June 12, 2025, when a woman using the Sixth Street restroom spotted a pen-shaped video recorder wedged behind a trash can. Police then conducted a sweep and uncovered similar devices in the Tenth and Eleventh Street bathrooms. Investigators later used license-plate-reader data to trace a vehicle back to Perkins’ home on the 4200 block of Glenview Street in Philadelphia, which led to his June 20 arrest, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors dropped more serious child-exploitation charges that had initially been filed, and Perkins instead admitted to the lesser invasion-of-privacy counts, as reported by 6abc.
Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland told the court that the way the cameras were placed reflected “methodical and predatory” conduct and said some of the recordings showed victims in states of undress, according to local coverage. Prosecutors also argued that Perkins tried to cover his tracks by changing clothes and swapping gloves between restroom visits, details outlined in reporting by OCNJ Daily.
Perkins’ attorney, Andrew Butchko, told the court his client struggles with sex addiction, anxiety and depression and will pursue treatment as part of his supervision. The judge ordered mental-health counseling and sexual-addiction treatment as conditions of probation. Victim impact statements described lingering emotional fallout, including one mother who said her 3-year-old now fears using public restrooms, a detail reported by OCNJ Daily.
The case first caught public attention when witness Fallon Conway recalled spotting what looked like a pen-style camera in one of the Ocean City bathrooms and telling officers that “immediately it was weird.” Her account, and the subsequent sweep that revealed additional devices, were described by NBC10 Philadelphia.
Legal implications
The original charging documents in the case included counts such as endangering the welfare of children and producing child sexual material, which carry far more severe penalties under New Jersey law. The state’s statute on endangering the welfare of children (N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4) and related provisions treat visual exploitation of minors as a serious offense; the text of the law is publicly available. See the law at Justia.
Ocean City police and the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office publicly thanked assisting agencies for their help on the case and urged anyone with additional information to contact the Ocean City Police Department’s Detective Bureau. That request for tips and the department’s contact details were included in coverage by NBC10 Philadelphia.
