Top-ranked military officer Alfred Keating, 59, is on trial over planting a secret camera inside a unisex bathroom of the country’s embassy in Washington who appeared Auckland District Court for the start of his trial.
The camera’s media card had the traces that matched Mr Keating’s DNA and the camera’s driver and related software has been found from his computer.
Keating is alleged to have installed a small camera “in a unisex bathroom on Level 3 of the New Zealand Embassy” in the US capital in 2017, according to the court documents.
“It had been purposely mounted inside a heating duct unit in the bathroom,” and was only discovered when the panel fell to the floor.
“A thick layer of dust on the homemade platform the camera was mounted on indicated the device had been in place for many months.”
New Zealand is responsible for Mr Keating’s trial, as he was a foreign official.
Alfred Keating, 59, was a commodore in the New Zealand navy and was one of the country’s most senior naval officers before he resigned in 2018 following the allegations.
Investigators began to suspect Keating after examining the buildings swipe card records, said Henry Steele, Crown prosecutor.
Steele said that Keating used blue latex gloves to put the motion activated camera in position.
Keating denies all the charges.
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Naval Officer on Trial over Secret Camera in Embassy Bathroom
