A West Chester University student has been arrested for recording women going to the bathroom in multiple places, including a theater company in Maryland.
24-year-old Joshua Yannuzzi is a theater student at West Chester and is being charged with over 100 offenses including felony wire-tap violations, criminal use of a communication facility, invasion of privacy, and more.
There are over 20 women, potentially more, who are victims of being recorded while going to the bathroom. Officials say Yannuzzi likely targeted his victims.
District Attorney Tom Hogan stated, “This defendant was a technological predator. Using his ties in the theater community, he specifically targeted certain young women for hidden recordings in private places, all for his own sexual gratification. The victims, the victims’ friends and family, and the entire theater community have been betrayed.”
On October 10, a woman was using the bathroom at the O.E. Bull Center on West Chester University's campus when she found an iPhone taped to the inside of the bathroom, pointed at the toilet and recording. The woman turned the phone over to the police.
Yannuzzi was found outside of the bathroom and video surveillance revealed he had entered the bathroom before the victim, and went back inside the bathroom after she left.
Officials say he has made these videos at least 50 times in the last two years.
Yannuzzi's videos were taken in the following places:
- The E.O. Bull Center at West Chester University
- The Footlighters Theater in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
- The Genesius Theatre in Reading, Pennsylvania
- The Street Lamp Productions Theater in Rising Sun, Maryland
- A residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Multiple residences in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
- A residence in West Chester, Pennsylvania
- A residence in Reading, Pennsylvania
Officials say Yannuzzi also secretly photographed women using a spy-camera app, and shared some of his videos on a website called thisvid.com.
Yannuzzi has been banned from West Chester University while the school pursues administrative remedies against him.
District Attorney Hogan added, “We need other victims to come forward and help us prosecute this defendant. Anybody who had contact with Josh Yannuzzi in theater productions or living arrangements is a potential victim. Victims can contact the Chester County Detectives and confidentially review recordings possibly related to them to determine if they were illegally recorded.”
Anybody with information about the defendant should contact Chester County Detective Robert Balchunis at (610) 344-6866.
