PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A former Local 10 News employee was arrested Friday on charges of video voyeurism and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Rafael Martinez, 60, is accused of recording videos of other employees in private settings without their consent.
The engineer was fired last month after the accusations came to light. He had worked at the station for more than 20 years.
Martinez’s company cellphone is now in the hands of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. On that phone are several videos from under the anchor desk in our main studio, from our control room and from a newsroom set we call “the tower” — a raised platform we use for breaking news, news updates and to introduce stories to you.
Last month, after a complaint by an employee, station management immediately confiscated Martinez’s cellphone and found the inappropriate and illegal videos.
In some of the videos, Martinez’s cellphone camera is pointed up a coworker’s skirt. In others, his cellphone is placed in obscure locations aimed to capture private images.
Local 10′s internal camera system at the station showed Martinez planting his cellphone on the tower.
“This is an illegal action. That is why we got BSO involved immediately,” said Bert Medina, president and CEO of WPLG, Inc. “It is our responsibility to report something like this. As painful as it is to have it occur in the WPLG family, it is our responsibility to get law enforcement involved.
“We are going out with this story because if we cover the news every day, we need to be transparent when happens in our building. And to the viewers, we pledge that we will be completely transparent as this story develops.”
According to Martinez’s arrest warrant, his charges carry a total bond of $60,000.
The video voyeurism charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.