Springfield tanning salon owner charged with videotaping customers

[BigTodd]

A bona fide convicted sex offender:

Classification: Sex Offender
Type of Offense: 6312 - SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN
Date of Conviction: 1/29/2003
Name: BRUCE JOHN SCHOENFELDER
Aliases: None listed in this registry
Year of Birth: 1949

http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/S...K4INIJNF F4da

In case you didn't know, Bruce was convicted of taking pictures of his underage tanning customers. Do a Google search for the news stories.

[Din]

okay so it's not your opinion......cool.

[nebtans]

Thank you Din. I never said anything of a sexual nature. I do not do sunlesses for sexual gratification.

i simply said he could have been looking at naked women and been paid for it at the same time.

I think that this person is an idiot, and a blight upon our industry. I have a real interest in these people as the owner I bought my first salon from was accused by many of being a peep.

I have run into this discussion all too much, I tell the ladies upfront that i am a guy, but I am simply performing a cosmetic service.

Doctors and Nurses and many others also view naked people. Some doctors and Dentists and other professionals have done as much as peeping and recording incorrect acts.
----

Dean, In all honesty... When I am spraying... I am concentrating on applying solution correctly. I hardly have time to think sexual thoughts.

I have sprayed some beauties... however, I am focused on building my salon business... If I piss off one client I lose several so I am very professional when in the sunless booth.


But.... There are a few seconds... When I spray the "Smile" lines.... well you know... Ha ha.

[Ezliving_Jim]

Springfield tightens tanning salon rules after hidden camera case

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tanning salon owners will be subject to background checks and police inspections under stricter licensing rules adopted after one operator was charged with secretly videotaping female patrons undressing.

The new rules, which require an annual license for tanning salons, were approved by the City Council on Monday and will take effect in two months.

Salon owners will have to submit detailed background information and be subject to routine police inspections for hidden surveillance devices.

The city's finance and police departments will decide jointly whether to grant an applicant's license.

The action comes more than a year after Springfield police, tipped off by a employee of 360 Degree Tan, found a camera and about 40 digital files containing nude images of female patrons. The camera was placed near the foot of a tanning bed.

Salon owner Brett Patrick Kent faces a seven-count federal complaint and 22 counts of invasion of privacy in Greene County. Since his December 2005 arrest, Kent's whereabouts are unknown. He didn't show up at a hearing in December 2006.

Thirteen women also have filed civil lawsuits against Kent for invasion of privacy.

The new rules also require tanning salon operators to submit a complete set of fingerprints taken by Springfield police.

Cari Oughton, general manager of Body Fx, does not object to unannounced police inspections at her workplace but said the rules should encompass other facilities where people get undressed, "whether it be your local gym, local department stores, public restrooms ..."

"I just wish that they would look at other places other than tanning salons," Oughton

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Proposed bill would increase 62 city fees

Proposal would reduce 13 charges, add nine more.

John Taylor
News-Leader


Beginning July 1, it could cost more to pick up a pet at the city animal shelter, buy a building permit, have a birthday party at the fire station or take advantage of a number of other city services.


The Springfield City Council on Monday will consider a bill to raise 62 fees, reduce 13 and add nine new ones. Eleven would stay the same.

The fees aim to recover costs, including labor, the city acquires while providing services.

If the changes are approved, city officials estimate the cost-recovery rate will rise from 88 percent to 93.6 percent, which translates to nearly $94 for every $100 worth of services provided.

The city adjusts its fees each year.

In 2006, eight were reduced, 11 stayed the same and 68 increased. There were no new fees. It was estimated cost recovery would increase from 85 percent to 93 percent.

One of the new fees could be a $25 charge to rent a community room at one of the fire stations. Government entities as well as recognized neighborhood groups would be exempt.

Louise Whall, city public information officer, said the four rooms were reserved 1,047 times in 2006 and 480 times January through May of this year.

Assistant Fire Chief David Hall said the fee will be used to clean or replace the carpets in the rooms. The fire department has been covering those expenses out of its budget.

The $25 fee is expected to recover 56 percent of the rental expenses. The department recommended that the fee not be set so high that rental would be discouraged. Officials will monitor the impact on use of the rooms during the first year of the fee.

Another new fee would be a $150 charge to conduct background and security checks at tanning salons.

Reaction to the fee from salon owners was mixed.

"They're doing this because of that one guy," said Katie Wilson, co-owner of Margaritaville Tanning, 3821 S. Campbell Ave.

The council approved tougher scrutiny after salon owner Brett Patrick Kent was accused of secretly filming his customers as they undressed in 2005.

Kent faces federal charges of child pornography since some of the customers he is accused of filming were minors, and 22 counts of invasion of privacy in Greene County Court. His whereabouts are unknown since being released on bail in December 2005.

The salon he owned on West Republic Road has since changed ownership as well as its name.

Wilson said no one has the right to take pictures of people without their knowledge, but thinks tanning salons are being unfairly targeted since background checks aren't required for many other businesses.

Beth Epperson, owner of South Beach Tanning Fantasy, 900 E. Battlefield Road, said she had nothing either positive or negative to say about background checks.

"It's just the way life is," Epperson said.

She said it is good to protect the public, but she did not think salons should be included in the same city law that regulates massage establishments.

"We never see the customers without clothes," said Epperson.

The other new fees, including a $630 charge for annexation into the city limits, primarily affect land development.

Many fee changes — such as a $5 increase for a blasting permit or a $2 reduction in the price of a "street ends" sign — will likely affect only a small portion of the city's residents.

The fee schedule does not include punitive charges such as fines for speeding.

Fee recommendations are based on the cost of providing services in 2006.

There is a cap on how much fees can increase. That cap is based on the Consumer Price Index, which monitors cost-of-living changes.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Police: Fugitive tanning-salon owner arrested in Phoenix

Amos Bridges
abridges@news-leader.com

A former Springfield tanning salon owner charged with secretly videotaping customers has been apprehended in Arizona.

Brett Patrick Kent, former owner of 360 Degree Tanning at 1607 W Republic Road, was arrested Saturday by the Phoenix Police Department, Springfield police said in a press release today.

Kent, 35, is charged with 22 counts of invasion of privacy — a class D felony — in Greene County.

Civil charges of invasion of privacy from 13 women are also pending against Kent, who faces federal charges including six counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

Six of the women who were videotaped undressing were minors at the time the recordings were made, according to court documents.

A female employee found images of women undressing while doing homework on a computer at the tanning salon in December 2005.

The employee called Springfield police, who executed a search warrant and found a hidden camera in one of the tanning booths.

A computer seized at the business contained video files of the six minors and images of adult women, some of them nude, according to court documents.

In addition, more than 14,700 images and 53 video files believed to be child pornography were allegedly seized from computer CDs found at Kent’s home.

Kent was released on $15,000 bond shortly after his December 2005 arrest, but allegedly fled Springfield before a December 2006 hearing.

Source

[Ezliving_Jim]

Former tanning salon owner indicted on child porn charges

News-Leader staff

A federal grand jury indicted a former Springfield tanning salon owner yesterday for producing and possessing child pornography, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Brett Patrick Kent, 35, was charged in an eight-count indictment. The former 360 Degree Tan owner was a federal fugitive until his June 23 arrest in Phoenix.

The indictment includes six counts of producing child porn and two counts of possessing child porn.

According to the indictment, Kent used six minor female victims to produce child porn on separate occasions Dec. 6-8, 2005.

Kent allegedly taped the victims without their knowledge or permission as they used 360 Degree Tan tanning beds.

Law enforcement investigators allegedly found more than 4,295 suspected images and 53 suspected video files thought to be child porn on computer CDs seized from Kent’s residence.

Kent also faces 22 felony counts of invasion of privacy in Greene County.

More than a dozen civil suits filed against Kent by videotaped women were resolved earlier this year.

Source

[neon beach]

Springfield eh?

And right before the movie release?

[esun]

At least its not in homers hometown!

[Editor-in-Chief]

Former tan salon owner pleads not guilty to filming minors

SPRINGFIELD | A former tanning salon owner pleaded not guilty today to eight child pornography charges for allegedly videotaping underage female customers with a hidden camera.

Brett Patrick Kent, 35, entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge James England during an arraignment at Springfield’s federal courthouse.

Kent was arrested last month in Phoenix after fleeing Missouri and remains in federal detention.

He faces 22 charges filed by prosecutors and 13 lawsuits from customers for allegedly using a hidden camera to videotape women undressing or tanning in the nude at his salon, 360 Degree Tan.

Authorities said they were tipped off to Kent’s alleged crimes in late 2005 after a female employee said she was using a business computer and discovered the images.

Federal prosecutors allege some of the customers were minors, forming the basis for the child pornography charges.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Bail argued for former tanning salon owner


Prosecutors request no bond, noting the defendant was a fugitive for several months.


Ryan Slight
News-Leader


Attorneys argued Monday over whether a former Springfield tanning salon owner facing federal child pornography charges should have bond.

Brett Patrick Kent pleaded not guilty to six counts of child porn production and two counts of child porn possession at Springfield's federal courthouse.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James England announced no decision in court on a possible bond, but said he would consider the matter.

Kent, former 360 Degree Tan owner, is accused of secretly videotaping females as they undressed or lay nude in a tanning booth in his business. Authorities say some victims were minors.

The defendant also faces 22 felony counts of invasion of privacy in Greene County. Kent was a fugitive for several months before his June 23 arrest in Phoenix.

Kent's Springfield attorney Dee Wampler said Kent's "lack of judgment" that caused him to flee wouldn't happen again.

Kent's parents offered to put up property that they would forfeit if Kent disappeared again, he said.

"This defendant has no intention whatsoever of leaving and leaving his parents penniless," Wampler said.

The attorney suggested several options for Kent's release, including electronic ankle bracelet monitoring and daily check-ins with pre-trial services.

Kent could be under house arrest or have a salaried job with a curfew, Wampler said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rose Barber asked that Kent be detained until trial, noting there was already one bond forfeiture in Kent's state case.

The prosecutor also requested that six minors only be identified by numbers in court filings to protect their identities.

Wampler asked and received permission to give Kent a fresh pair of contact lenses to wear in jail. Wampler said there were numerous documents in the case, and Kent needed to see well to read them.

Police investigated Kent's business after a female tanning salon employee allegedly found some images while doing homework on a business computer.

Law enforcement investigators allegedly found more than 4,295 images and 53 video files thought to be child porn on computer CDs seized from Kent's residence.

Source

[Ezliving_Jim]

Salon owner held for tanning booth cameras



Published Thursday, August 2, 2007


SPRINGFIELD (AP) - A former Springfield tanning salon owner remained in jail after a federal judge refused to grant bail before his trial for allegedly using hidden cameras to film underage female customers.

Brett Patrick Kent, 35, faces eight federal counts of producing and possessing child pornography.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James England ruled yesterday against granting bail even though Kent’s parents offered their property as bond.

Kent was a fugitive for several months before his arrest in Phoenix in June.

Kent also faces 22 charges in Greene County for allegedly videotaping women and girls as they undressed or lay nude in a tanning booth.

Kent was arrested in December 2005 after an employee told police about images she found on a business computer.

[Editor-in-Chief]

Search warrants challenged in tanning salon porn case


© 2007, Springfield News-Leader


A motion was filed yesterday to dismiss a child pornography case against a former Springfield tanning salon owner.

Springfield attorney Dee Wampler also filed a motion to suppress search warrants in Brett Patrick Kent's case.

Kent faces six counts in federal court of producing child porn and two counts of possessing child porn.

The former 360 Degree Tan owner is accused of secretly videotaping females as they undressed or lay nude in a tanning booth at his business. Authorities allege some of the females were minors.

Kent also faces 22 felony counts of invasion of privacy in Greene County. He was a fugitive for several months before his June 23 arrest in Phoenix.

According to the suppression motion, a tanning salon employee opened a recycle bin on Dec. 9, 2005, and saw the name and nude images of a customer that "appeared to have been made from a camera located somewhere near the tanning bed."

Wampler argued there is no proof the employee had ever been in the tanning bed area or was familiar with the layout.

The motion said the employee observed "similar files in the computer listing additional names." However, Wampler contended there is no proof the people were customers.

The attorney argued there should have been more than "just mere suspicion" to establish probable cause for a search warrant.

Source

[Ezliving_Jim]

The former owner of the Paradise Sun Tanning Salon will spend at least 16 years behind bars


The former owner of the Paradise Sun Tanning Salon will spend at least 16 years behind bars for installing cameras in the beds to record female customers.

Prosecutors say Brett Patrick Kent pleaded guilty to 22 countys of invasion of privacy for taking the photos back in early December of oh-6.

Kent is also waiting for a federal sentence on one county of child pornography.

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