A 20-year-old Maryland man will spend nearly six months behind bars after a judge found him guilty of secretly recording people, including a 3-year-old girl, in the employee restroom of a Del Ray restaurant. Joshua Hombrebueno was sentenced to 179 days in jail and must register as a sex offender following the hidden camera scheme uncovered last September at Gustave Boulangerie & Brasserie.
According to ALXnow, Hombrebueno was found guilty of making hidden camera recordings inside the employee restroom of the bakery, located at 2213 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. The outlet reports he received 179 days in jail on each of three counts, with two of those sentences suspended on uniform good behavior and probation. On the felony count involving a minor, he was sentenced to five years in jail, entirely suspended, along with five years of probation.
Per the same account, if Hombrebueno successfully completes probation, the court will enter an order convicting him only of misdemeanor unlawful filming rather than the felony charge tied to the minor victim. He was also found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of unlawful filming involving victims over the age of 18, and he is barred from ever returning to the restaurant.
How the Recordings Were Discovered
The case began on September 20, 2025, when a customer at the restaurant found a phone propped up on a roll of toilet paper inside the bathroom vanity, the article notes. That customer told police she and her underage daughter had used the employee restroom because the public restroom was occupied, and she reportedly saw the person who had set up the phone. Police were called to the scene and briefly detained Hombrebueno that day, according to the same report.
The phone had been recording for approximately 30 minutes, per ALXnow's reporting. Per a search warrant affidavit cited in the article, Hombrebueno admitted to placing the phone in the bathroom to record himself performing sexual acts for later delivery to his girlfriend in the Philippines.
Reporting from October 2025 filled in more detail about that day. WUSA9 reported that the minor recorded in the restroom that day was 3 years old, and that her mother discovered the active iPhone during their visit. The City of Alexandria said detectives ultimately identified multiple victims willing to press charges after executing a search warrant on Hombrebueno's phone, and he surrendered to Alexandria Police Detective Duglas Quint on October 22, 2025, as reported by ALXnow.
From a Dozen Counts to a Plea Deal
At the time of his arrest, Alexandria police had formally charged Hombrebueno with three felony counts and nine misdemeanor counts of unlawful creation of an image of another, according to the City of Alexandria. Then-Assistant Police Chief Tina Laguna called it a deeply troubling case involving serious violations of privacy in comments reported by FOX 5 DC, and she commended community members for assisting investigators.
The sentence handed down nearly six months in jail on the reduced charges represents a significant narrowing from that original dozen-count exposure, which under Virginia law could have carried decades behind bars. Virginia Code § 18.2-386.1 classifies filming a non-consenting adult as a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and fines up to $2,500, while the statute elevates to a Class 6 felony carrying up to five years in prison when the recording involves a minor. A felony conviction under that statute involving a minor victim also mandates registration on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry under Virginia Code § 9.1-902. The final sentencing was handled under Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter, whose office negotiated the plea structure that ties the felony's ultimate disposition to Hombrebueno completing probation successfully.
Restaurant's Response and Ongoing Scrutiny
Gustave Boulangerie & Brasserie opened on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray in May 2023, taking over the former headquarters of digital design agency Bean Creative, according to Patch. Owner Karim Mashmour confirmed to local media that Hombrebueno was suspended immediately after the September 2025 report and was later terminated following his arrest.
The bakery has continued to draw municipal attention since the case broke. In March, Alexandria's Department of Code Administration issued a stop-work order against the restaurant's outdoor beer garden structure, known as Le Jardin, citing unpermitted electrical and plumbing work, according to The Alexandria Brief.
