Norristown landlord admits spying on female tenants

A Norristown landlord admitted yesterday that he used electronic devices to videotape female tenants for nearly 20 years.

Thomas Daley, 46, formerly of the 1000 block of Spring City Road, Phoenixville, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to 30 counts of invasion of privacy and related offenses stemming from incidents between 1989 and September.

"He feels horrible about his actions," said Daley's attorney, Tim Woodward. "He's extremely remorseful."

Woodward said he would argue at Daley's sentencing, which has not been scheduled, that his client deserved credit for his cooperation.

Besides helping police identify victims, Daley is liquidating his assets so they can be apportioned to the victims, Woodward said. He added that 13 civil suits had been filed against Daley.

"Otherwise, the first one to the courthouse would have been the only one to receive compensation," Woodward said.

Assistant District Attorney John N. Gradel agreed that Daley, whom he called a "high-tech Peeping Tom," has been cooperative.

"Frankly, I've never seen a defendant fall on his sword harder," Gradel said.

But the prosecutor said that the trauma to the victims was significant, and that he would argue at sentencing that Daley should remain under the court's supervision "for a long, long time," given his age and history.

Gradel declined to say how much prison time he might seek, but said the maximum Daley could receive was 151 years.

Daley came to the attention of Norristown police on Sept. 18 after a complaint from a tenant in a four-unit building that Daley owned in the 500 block of Stanbridge Street.

The woman, who was crying when police arrived, told officers that her boyfriend had been changing a lightbulb in the apartment's bathroom and found a camera hidden behind the mirror, the criminal complaint said.

Police found four other cameras in the apartment and called Daley when the wires to the "micro pinhole-style video camera" appeared to go down the wall into the basement, which only Daley could access, the complaint said.

Daley told police - who found cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, and living rooms of two other apartments - that he had installed the cameras before the tenants moved in, the complaint said.

Investigators said one camera lens was the size of a screw and attached to a ceiling fan that Daley had installed over one tenant's bed. Some of the cameras "were activated when the light switch to that room was turned on," the complaint said.

Daley, who told detectives that he was "self-taught," initially used primitive VHS equipment but gradually introduced devices such as digital recorders and watched through his home computer, the complaint said.