The Camera in Your Church’s Bathroom

By Nina Strochlic
Daily Beast
July 10, 2015

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/10/the-camera-in-your-church-s-bathroom.html

This week, police alleged an Oregon priest either placed a camera in his church’s bathroom or covered for someone who did. He wouldn’t be the first religious leader to do so.

Attention churchgoers: Your parish bathroom is no longer a respite from the tedium of Mass or a place to seek refuge when you see the approaching embrace of your older aunt. In fact, it may be watching you.

Over the past few years, there has been a rash of hidden cameras found recording in church bathrooms across the country. In a creepy tale coming out of Oregon, a 34-year-old priest was caught in an elaborate ruse to prevent a 15-year-old parishioner from turning in the hidden camera he found in the bathroom to the police.

The unnamed boy had noticed a strange fixture next to the toilet and alerted Father Ysrael Bien. The priest assured the boy and his family that he had contacted the authorities, and they had launched an investigation.

When the boy’s father continued to check in for updates, the priest told him authorities had shut it down due to lack of evidence. But at further pestering from the family, Bien ultimately admitted that he had never reported the camera at all. He was afraid of “the consequences of losing the device,” he apparently told the father.

In the meantime, it had gone mysteriously missing. Now police believe the priest either installed the camera or assisted whoever did, according to court records obtained by The Oregonian.

This is hardly the first time bathroom voyeurism has struck the house of God.

In May, a Sacramento musician was found secretly recording video of women in the bathroom of his church. He had set up a cellphone and captured 20 women caught on camera over the past four months.

This week, police alleged an Oregon priest either placed a camera in his church’s bathroom or covered for someone who did. He wouldn’t be the first religious leader to do so.

Attention churchgoers: Your parish bathroom is no longer a respite from the tedium of Mass or a place to seek refuge when you see the approaching embrace of your older aunt. In fact, it may be watching you.

Over the past few years, there has been a rash of hidden cameras found recording in church bathrooms across the country. In a creepy tale coming out of Oregon, a 34-year-old priest was caught in an elaborate ruse to prevent a 15-year-old parishioner from turning in the hidden camera he found in the bathroom to the police.

The unnamed boy had noticed a strange fixture next to the toilet and alerted Father Ysrael Bien. The priest assured the boy and his family that he had contacted the authorities, and they had launched an investigation.

When the boy’s father continued to check in for updates, the priest told him authorities had shut it down due to lack of evidence. But at further pestering from the family, Bien ultimately admitted that he had never reported the camera at all. He was afraid of “the consequences of losing the device,” he apparently told the father.

In the meantime, it had gone mysteriously missing. Now police believe the priest either installed the camera or assisted whoever did, according to court records obtained by The Oregonian.

This is hardly the first time bathroom voyeurism has struck the house of God.

In May, a Sacramento musician was found secretly recording video of women in the bathroom of his church. He had set up a cellphone and captured 20 women caught on camera over the past four months.