Miami County Sheriff's detective Lt. Jason Moore launched an investigation Dec. 9 after he determined a covert camera likely was installed in 2015 by then-county IT Director Matt Watkins.
Watkins told investigators he installed the camera at the direction of former Miami County Commissioner John "Bud" O'Brien, according to county documents and recorded sheriff's interviews obtained by the Journal-News. The investigation has led to two resignations.
O'Brien declined to comment. He denied knowing anything about a camera when Moore contacted him, an incident report says. Ohio has a "one-party consent law" that prohibits recording oral, written and electronic communication unless one of the parties involved agrees to it. Miami County Prosecutor Anthony Kendell said in a letter to Moore that he reviewed the case for potential criminal charges, including illegal wiretapping, but concluded no evidence exists on the county's computer servers that the camera recorded and transmitted audio.
The laptop connected to the camera later was destroyed, Watkins told the detective.
"Although there are numerous things about this situation that are concerning, to include the (sheer) and unadulterated corruption and illegality, the evidence that has been able to be gathered falls short in terms of being able to bring a criminal case with respect to any of the players in this matter," Kendell wrote.
Kendell wrote in his review letter that "... since many of the participants in this despicable display of corruption and misuse of power have developed amnesia and/or selective memory, it appears that no criminal charges will be forthcoming unless and until further evidence is developed in this particular matter."
The Miami County Commission is conducting an internal investigation.
" The Miami County Board of Commissioners is committed to provide an environment where all of our employees' rights are scrupulously honored," according to a statement from the board.
Watkins told this newspaper the camera was used for a short time five or more years ago to view access to a storage room door in an office, and the device was forgotten about and sat unused for years.
"Miami County has suffered through enough negative headlines over the years," he said. "It is unfortunate that not everyone was forthcoming with information during the investigation, which added unnecessary suspicion of wrongdoing."
"Their participation could have put this whole thing to a quick end," he said. "It is unfair to the good people that work there."
Sheriff's Office Begins Investigation
In early December, Moore launched the investigation after the hidden camera was discovered in the office of the Miami County human resources director Tamela Hoover, according to sheriff office's reports obtained by this newspaper.It's unclear exactly how the camera was uncovered, but the sheriff's report says it was found while Hoover's office was cleaned out and the interim HR director removed it.
Hoover was the Miami County human resources director from 2013 until September, when the board of county commissioners fired her. Board members approved a resolution that said Hoover was dismissed because she "engaged in conduct inconsistent with her role and responsibility."
Watkins told Moore he installed the camera around 2015 after meeting with former Commissioner O'Brien and Leigh Williams, the board of county commissioners' clerk and administrator, according to a video of the interview the Journal-News reviewed.
Watkins said in his interview with the investigator that O'Brien told him information was being "leaked" or removed from storage in the HR director's office and he wanted to figure out who was coming and going from the storage area.
Watkins said O'Brien told him to install the camera discretely so no one would know it was there, according to the interview.
"I've worked for a lot of people, and when somebody's asking me to put a camera in to keep an eye on somebody, I don't ask why, and I don't care to know why," Watkins said in his first of two interviews with Moore. "It's one of those things where the less I know, the better."
Watkins told the investigator he bought a consumer-grade surveillance camera from Walmart with his own money and purchased a furnace return air grate. Watkins said he came into work on a Saturday, cut a hole in the drywall below the ceiling in the HR director's office and put the camera inside. He covered the hole with the vent cover.
Watkins said he ran a camera cable through the ceiling and into the IT room, where it was plugged into a switch on a server that he said only IT personnel could see and access.
The camera was linked to Watkins' county-issued laptop, the sheriff's report says, and he said it had to be plugged into the county's network to access the device and its data.
Watkins said he reviewed the footage at O'Brien's request a small number of times over a three- to six-month period.
Watkins told the detective he saw only Hoover in the footage. He said he reviewed the recordings on fast forward, without sound.
Watkins said in the interview the camera stopped working 18 months to two years after it was installed. The laptop stopped working at some point, according to the sheriff's interviews, and Watkins purchased a new one but did not install the camera software. Watkins told investigators the old laptop was destroyed, in keeping with county policy.
Watkins told the detective he never mentioned the camera to his boss, Miami County Auditor Matthew Gearhardt. Watkins resigned his job with Miami County on Dec. 28, according to county records.
"Once I learned of this incident on ( Dec. 7), I found it to be very troubling and concerning," Gearhardt said. "Once further details of the sheriff's investigation came about, I moved swiftly to rectify the situation as I no longer had the confidence or trust in Mr. Watkins to be the director of the information technology department."
Watkins told this newspaper he has lived in the community his whole life and he would never intentionally break the law.
Hidden Camera
The county's servers showed the camera was online and connected until August 2019, according to sheriff's documents.A county IT worker could not find any saved data from the camera on its servers but said anyone connected to the county network could have accessed the camera if they knew the IP address, password and had the viewing software, the case report states.
The camera and its cord didn't appear to be damaged, the case report says, and it was spray painted black, likely to help with concealment. The device had a built-in, two-way microphone and was capable of being activated by motion or sound.
Miami County Operations and Facilities Director Chris Johnson told Moore that O'Brien asked him to have a covert surveillance camera installed in the HR director's office, likely in 2014, according to a video of the interview.
Johnson said he thought the camera was supposed to monitor HR director Hoover's desk and her files and that Hoover knew about it.
"I was told it was strictly to see who came and went," Johnson said.
Johnson said he told O'Brien the IT department should handle the camera installation. Johnson declined to comment.
Other Witnesses
Hoover, the former HR director, told the detective she knew the camera was installed in her office, according to the incident report.She learned about the camera during a meeting with commission clerk Leigh Williams and Commissioners O'Brien, Richard Cultice and Jack Evans.
According to Hoover's interview, O'Brien said he believed an HR employee shared information with someone outside the office and he wanted a camera to monitor who was accessing her office.
Hoover told the detective she did not request the camera and never suspected anyone of removing items from her office.
When contacted, Hoover confirmed that she knew a camera would be installed but didn't know the purpose of it. Hoover told this newspaper no one talked to her about the camera after that meeting with commissioners and she never reviewed or accessed its video.
She also said she does not know why she was fired, but it was not related to this case.
"I didn't have the authority to question it or have it put in or anything," she said. "That was above my title."
No Recollection
Moore spoke to O'Brien over the phone on Dec. 23, and the former commissioner said he had no knowledge of the camera, his report states.O'Brien told the detective further questions should be directed to his attorney, the report states.
O'Brien was elected to the county commission in 2006. He previously served as the county recorder for a decade and as the chairman of the county Republican party.
O'Brien was reprimanded last year for ethics violations while in office. O'Brien was accused of seeking a job with the Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities while a commissioner, and then voting on resolutions involving the board after applying for the position.
Moore interviewed Williams, the commission clerk and administrator, who said she had no recollection of conversations about a camera, according to his report.
Williams resigned Wednesday. She did not return a request for comment.
Former commissioner Cultice told the detective and the Journal-News that he has no recollection of any discussion about a camera. He also told this newspaper he doesn't remember any issues in the HR office and declined to say if he thought using a hidden camera was appropriate without knowing more details.
Cultice told the detective that O'Brien might have had a problem with the job performance of one of the human resource department employee's.
Kendell told this newspaper if there was evidence that people's conversations were surreptitiously recorded without their knowledge, he definitely would have presented the case to a grand jury.
Kendell said he is providing legal advice to the board of county commissioners as it conducts an ongoing internal investigation.
"All of the people on the board right now ― this happened well before their time," he said. "When they did find out about it, they immediately contacted the sheriff and myself, and they acted promptly and appropriately to get to the bottom of this."
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