A 44-year-old Lockport man is facing a felony charge after police say he secretly recorded a 16-year-old girl entering and leaving her shower without her knowledge. Joseph Cagnina Jr. was charged with unauthorized video recording this week, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
According to police, Cagnina took the recordings from outside the victim's residence, capturing the teen as she came and went from her shower. As reported by Shaw Local, the charge was filed on Wednesday following an investigation that stretched back to the summer.
The case began on Aug. 6, when Lockport police received a report that prompted the investigation into Cagnina, per the station's account. A woman had reported that Cagnina had recorded her 16-year-old daughter entering and leaving the shower, according to Lockport Deputy Police Chief Ron Huff.
No Knowledge or Consent, Police Say
Huff said the recordings were made without the victim's knowledge or consent, the outlet notes. Investigators have not disclosed how many recordings exist, when exactly they were made, or what additional evidence led them to seek Cagnina's arrest, details the available reporting does not address.
It remains unclear whether Cagnina has been taken into custody, appeared in court, or retained an attorney, since the station's report does not include that information. Shaw Local's account also does not include any statement from Cagnina or his representation.
The Charge Against Cagnina
Cagnina was charged with unauthorized video recording.
The case also follows a similar Lockport prosecution in 2023. Police said Brian Ericksen recorded a male co-worker showering in Ericksen’s home using a covert camera; the co-worker discovered the device and brought it to police. Ericksen was charged with unauthorized videotaping and later pleaded not guilty, according to the account at the time. That case involved an adult victim and a camera inside a bathroom, rather than the allegations of remote recording involving a teenager in the current case.
An Illinois appellate decision provides a precedent involving a minor and shower recordings. In 2019, the Second District upheld convictions of a man who secretly recorded his 15-year-old stepdaughter entering a bathroom and showering in their home. The court rejected arguments that the residential-recording provision did not apply because the defendant lived there, and that the restroom provision applied only to public restrooms. The appellate opinion affirmed the convictions under the law then in effect.
Illinois added a provision specifically addressing recordings made from outside a person’s residence with a remotely operated device in 2021; it took effect Jan. 1, 2022. That provision covers video made without consent inside a residence even when the person recording is outside it. The public act amended the state’s unauthorized-recording law to include that circumstance.
Illinois law prohibits knowingly recording someone in that person’s residence without consent, including when a device records from outside the home. The statute classifies violations of those provisions as a Class 3 felony when the person recorded is under 18, a penalty that provides context for the felony charge in this case. The Illinois statute sets out both the recording restrictions and the enhanced penalty for a minor victim.
Beyond the statute itself, there is little public detail on how Cagnina's case will proceed through the courts. The investigation's origins — a single report filed in early August — stand in contrast to how long the case took to surface publicly, with the felony charge arriving more than two months later.
