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WOODS CROSS — The owner of a Woods Cross gymnastics business is facing 20 criminal charges after police say he hid a camera in the facility's bathroom and recorded videos of children changing clothes or using the toilet.
Adam Richard Jacobs, 33, was charged Thursday in 2nd District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and 10 counts of voyeurism, a class A misdemeanor. He's been ordered held without bail.
Court records show Jacobs has no prior criminal history. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
Police confirmed Wednesday that Jacobs is the owner of USA Gymnastics World, 2044 W. 2425 South in Woods Cross, which hosts training and coaching for children all the way to college-aged athletes.
Woods Cross police officer BreeAnna Hill said Thursday during a press conference that the gym is still operational. No additional recording devices have been found in the facility, she added, and police don't believe that any other employees were involved.
The videos appear to have been shot only between Oct. 6 through Oct. 21, 2022, which is of "particular concern" to police because Jacobs has been a coach at several other Utah gyms within the past decade. He's also had solo coaching sessions with children, "and their physical and sexual well-being and safety are of grave concern," according to charging documents.
A witness called police on March 3 to report finding a hidden camera in the facility's unisex bathroom. The witness said he noticed a USB charger adapter plugged into the bathroom outlet beneath the hand dryer. Thinking it had been left behind on accident, he pulled it out and gave it to management for someone to claim.
Only the witness and Richards were working that day, the charging documents note.
The faceplate was designed to allow the device to video record without being recognized as a camera. The camera was pointed directly towards the toilet in the restroom and had a full view, (an) unimpeded view.
–charging documents, Utah's 2nd District Court
Later that day, the witness noticed that the device was again plugged into the bathroom outlet. Finding it odd, he looked closer at it and saw scratches indicating it could open, he told police. The witness said he pulled on the charger's edges and the front faceplate popped off, revealing a hidden recording device with a removable memory card installed.
"The faceplate was designed to allow the device to video record without being recognized as a camera," charging documents state. "The camera was pointed directly towards the toilet in the restroom and had a full view, (an) unimpeded view."
The witness turned the device over to police, who found "several hundred" files on the 128-gigabyte micro-memory card, according to charging documents. Police said Thursday that there are over 500 files.
One video showed a man, later identified as Jacobs, setting up and adjusting the device within a residential bedroom, charging documents state. The storage card also contained multiple videos of Jacobs setting up the device in the USA Gymnastics World restroom, while another video showed him setting up the device in the boys' locker room, "making it abundantly clear that he was the perpetrator," according to charging documents.
Further forensic analysis, aided by the Utah Attorney General's Office, found that the camera had recordings of children, teenagers and adults in the restroom, using the toilet "or otherwise disrobing and changing clothing."
As of Wednesday, officers have identified 124 videos with 70 to 80 victims, some captured in multiple videos, according to charging documents. Police believe that 50 of those people will be identified through direct images of their faces.
Additionally, of those 124 videos, 42 contain images of children "clearly" under the age of 18 "in various stages of undress."
There are about 43 videos of Jacobs setting up the camera, both at the facility and in his own residence, charging documents continue.
Hill said Thursday that police conducted searches on Wednesday at Jacobs' home and seized several items that are currently being processed.
And for anyone who believes they might be a victim, Hill said they're welcome to contact police.
"We're more than happy to investigate that for you," she said.
