WOODS CROSS, Utah, March 23, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The owner of a Woods Cross business, USA Gymnastics World, is facing 40 charges related to allegedly recording juveniles and adults secretly as they used the unisex bathroom facilities at the business.
Adam Richard Jacobs, 33, now incarcerated, is charged with:
- Twenty-five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony
- Fifteen counts of voyeurism by electronic equipment concealed or disguised, a class A misdemeanor
There is no evidence to suggest children were physically abused, Woods Cross police have said.
Arrest documents filed by an officer of the Woods Cross Police Department say that between Oct. 6 and Oct. 18, “Adam Richard Jacobs intentionally placed a camera, disguised as a charging block for a cell phone, in the unisex restroom of a local business he owns in Davis County, Utah.
“In the device was a micro-SD card that held over 500 files. Of those files, over 70 individuals, many children, were secretly or surreptitiously recorded using the restroom. It captured many of them using the toilet or undressing.”
Other footage showed Jacobs setting up the camera in the boys’ locker room as well as the bedroom of his home, his probable cause statement says.
Search warrants were served Wednesday by Woods Cross police, assisted by the Utah Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, United States Secret Service, Kaysville Police Department, Clearfield Police Department, and Adult Probation and Parole, a news release from the Woods Cross Police Department says.
“During the execution of a search warrant, on March 22, 2023, at his home and his business, multiple SD cards, cell phones, and another disguised camera were found. Many more of the storage devices contained additional footage with additional victims,” charging documents say.
The news release says all known victims have been alerted. There is no evidence any other coaches or employees were involved in the illegal activity, and the gym remains open. The building has been cleared of all recording devices, the Woods Cross Police say.
The affidavit listed the charges, and added that “there is substantial evidence that shows there are additional victims and Adam, who is the owner and a trainer of the facility where the hidden camera was placed, has held a position of trust over many of his victims. Adam is a danger to the community and as such, it is requested he is held without bail.”
The court document also speculated that Jacobs was a flight risk, and asked that he be held without bail. A judge granted that request, and Jacobs was booked into the Davis County Jail on Wednesday.
