A woman arrested Thursday is accused of secretly photographing and videotaping women and children in the stalls of public restrooms and selling them online.
Laura Laibe, 37, was booked into jail on suspicion of 36 felony counts of voyeurism. It wasn’t clear if Laibe could face additional charges in the case.
Phoenix police say Laibe had taken hundreds of images and videos since May 2012 in restrooms at Chase Field in Phoenix, University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, a Walmart store and a Rainforest Cafe.
Authorities say the videos appeared to have been taken underneath the stalls using recording equipment.
Phoenix police officers and FBI agents arrested Laibe at her residence in the 16600 block of North 171st Drive in Surprise and executed a search warrant in her home. Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said officers found evidence including dozens of photos, videos and recording devices.
Authorities said Laibe sold the videos on the Internet for $5 to $10 in the form of video packets that featured several 2 to 5 minute clips taken from the same location. Laibe’s website, picks4sale.com, has been taken down.
Police estimate the website hosted hundreds of images and videos and that Laibe made hundreds of sales. It wasn’t clear how police learned about Laibe’s enterprise, but in developing their case against her, undercover officers purchased videos and images from the site.
Crump said Laibe placed video-recording devices — such as cameras or possibly cellphones — on the floor of bathroom stalls to capture unsuspecting patrons.
Laura Laibe, Alleged Potty Peeper
In multiple instances, people could be heard on the videos asking Laibe what she was doing. In other instances, Laibe would be in the bathroom stall for so long that people would attempt to perform a welfare check on her, Crump said.
Police say they know where she made the recordings because Laibe included location information in the video descriptions.
Crump said that Laibe has been cooperative with police and, in interviews with investigators, admitted to the crimes and handed over a camera containing multiple videos and images.
It was not immediately clear if Laibe had an attorney.
Crump said Laibe is married, though her husband was not home during the arrest and it was unclear if he had any knowledge of the alleged voyeurism. Laibe’s children were home at the time, Crump said.
Although police have not completely ruled out the possibility that Laibe wasn’t acting alone, Phoenix police are not actively pursing other leads. While analyzing Laibe’s ticket purchases to the athletic events, police learned that she frequently bought one other ticket in addition to her own, Crump said.
Investigators are working with Major League Baseball and Diamondbacks personnel to analyze security footage.
Phoenix police ask that anyone who encountered Laibe in a public restroom — including at a Diamondbacks or Cardinals game on or around April 4 and Sept. 13 — to call the Phoenix Police Department’s Family Investigations Unit at 602-534-2121.
Republic reporter Danika Worthington contributed to this article.
Source
