A 24-year-old San Antonio man is facing a felony charge after police say he secretly recorded a woman undressing at his residence, with investigators recovering an image that allegedly matched her account down to the small window gap where the camera was hidden. Dylan James Apolinar was charged with invasive visual recording, a state jail felony, following an investigation into the allegation.
According to WOAI, the case began on February 20, when the victim was at Apolinar's residence changing clothes behind a locked bedroom door. She was not alone — Apolinar's girlfriend was with her at the time, according to the station's report. It would be months before the victim learned what had allegedly happened in that room.
On May 13, Apolinar's girlfriend sent the victim a video showing her scrolling through his phone gallery, the outlet reports. That gallery allegedly contained photos and videos of the victim undressing in the nude, setting off an investigation by the San Antonio Police Department's Human Exploitation Unit.
How Investigators Say the Recordings Were Made
Investigators determined the footage appeared to have been captured through a small gap from a concealed location, without the knowledge or consent of either woman present, per the same account. Detectives later seized Apolinar's phone under a search warrant as the investigation moved forward.
That search turned up key physical evidence: detectives recovered an image taken from a small opening in a window on the date of the incident, which the station says corroborated the victim's account. An arrest warrant was signed for Apolinar on September 28.
Potential Penalties Under Texas Law
If convicted, Apolinar faces between 180 days and two years in state jail along with a fine of up to $10,000, the article notes. Invasive visual recording charges have surfaced in several other Texas cases this year, illustrating how the offense covers a range of settings beyond private homes.
In the Holy Cross of San Antonio case, former coach Armando Arnulfo Flores was accused of secretly recording a 13-year-old girl and a volleyball coach changing clothes, according to the San Antonio Express-News, which reported he faced two counts of invasive visual recording tied to a hidden camera. Police had earlier said Flores, 34 at the time of his initial arrest, allegedly used a camera disguised as an alarm clock to record people changing in his office, as detailed by KSAT. In a separate North Texas case, Denton barbershop owner Jose Luis Alvarez Williams was arrested on an invasive visual recording warrant after allegedly recording a female employee in the restroom of the shop he owns, according to FOX 4 News.
