The former Boy Scouts volunteer pleaded guilty to charges of producing child pornography, federal authorities say.
A former Boy Scouts volunteer has admitted in court to hiding cameras inside a camp bathroom used by children, according to federal authorities.
David Lee Nelson, 41, pleaded guilty last week in St. Louis federal court to two counts of producing child pornography and two counts of attempting to produce child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Nelson was a volunteer chaperone at a Missouri scout camp in 2021, authorities said. In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the man acknowledged hiding two cameras at S Bar F Scout Ranch in St. Francois County, authorities said.
"Nelson hid the cameras in paper towel dispensers and positioned them so they would capture the interior of the bathroom, including a shower stall," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
One camera was found by scouts and their leader as they were cleaning a restroom stall, authorities said. A second was discovered after a search of the bathroom, prosecutors said.
Camp leaders then contacted the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department.
Nelson initially denied any involvement, authorities said. Investigators later found that the hidden cameras had actually recorded Nelson in the bathroom.
The cameras had captured images of children using the bathroom and shower, their ages ranging from 11 to 15, authorities said.
"As part of his plea agreement, Nelson has agreed to forfeit computers, tablets, hard drives, other storage devices and two digital cameras that were seized during the investigation," the federal prosecutors' statement said.
The case was investigated by St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI, authorities said.
Nelson is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, followed by a term of supervised release, prosecutors said.
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