Former Rancho Palos Verdes employee charged with planting hidden camera in bathrooms

A former Rancho Palos Verdes building inspector was arrested Tuesday and charged with 89 counts of voyeurism after authorities say he placed a hidden camera inside of a City Hall bathroom and a bathroom at a coffee house.

A city employee discovered the hidden miniature camera inside a unisex employee-only restroom at Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall on July 5, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Detectives from the department’s Lomita station determined that Andrew Jensen, 49, of Huntington Beach, hid the camera inside that restroom as well as inside a bathroom at a nearby coffee house, authorities said.

Detectives obtained video footage from Jensen’s camera and identified 89 victims but it is unclear what he was doing with the footage, said Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Sampson, a spokesman for the Lomita station.

Jensen is being held on $450,000 bail, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Jensen has not been at City Hall since Aug. 2 and has resigned, said Gabriella Yap, the Rancho Palos Verdes deputy city manager.

“The city is gravely concerned and disturbed by this betrayal of trust and violation of privacy against our employees and the community,” she said in a statement. “However, we are confident that justice will be served in the criminal courts.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department asks anyone with additional information to call Detective Terence Peterson at (310) 891-3211 or “L.A. Crime Stoppers” at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) if they prefer to remain anonymous.