Secret Videotapes

Fremont, OH: (Dec-13-07) A class action lawsuit was brought by about 600 men and women against the late James Rogers, a Gibsonburg, Ohio, landlord, alleging that they were videotaped in their apartments with hidden cameras. The suit alleged that Rogers installed and concealed video and audio recording equipment throughout his rental dwellings in Gibsonburg and made recordings from 1986 until his death in 2002. Sources stated that the suit, filed in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court, named Rogers, 55, an insurance agent and landlord. Records show that Rogers fatally shot himself in January 2002, while police searched his house for evidence of voyeurism. He had not been charged. In a recent development, officials claimed that the five-year-old class action lawsuit was reaching resolution with a proposed settlement of $100,000. As of now, Gibsonburg police have been able to identify only about 50 people on the tapes whose privacy was violated. The deal would mean payouts of at least $100 to others who could step forward as having been recorded on the 237 videotapes of people showering and using bathrooms in the apartments in Gibsonburg. [TOLEDO BLADE: SECRET VIDEOTAPES]