The former chairman of the Farley Board of Trustees will spend one year in jail for placing a hidden camera in his 16-year-old stepdaughter’s bedroom.
Charles L. McCardie, 47, admitted in Platte County Circuit Court on Thursday that he used the camera hidden in a smoke detector to watch the girl without her knowledge.
Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “This man tried to portray himself as a community leader and church-goer. It turns out that he is just a shameless peeping tom who spent his time secretly watching his own stepdaughter.”
On June 26, 2006, the victim’s mother reported to the Platte County Sheriff’s Department that her daughter had found a camera hidden in the smoke detector of her bedroom. The mother told officers she did not know her husband had put the camera in her daughter’s room.
A detective with Platte County Cyber Crimes Unit found a wireless camera in the smoke detector. The detective then found wireless receivers in the downstairs living room and office at the house.
McCardie initially denied any knowledge of the camera and said it might have been installed sometime over the weekend while the family was out of town. He later admitted he had installed the camera in the bedroom and used a desktop computer and TV to monitor it.
McCardie told authorities, “It’s like when I’m watching her she’s not my daughter.”
He said he only saw his stepdaughter partially nude, but he could not say with certainty that he would not have watched her in other situations if given the opportunity.
McCardie pled guilty to invasion of privacy, which is a misdemeanor. He will serve the maximum possible sentence of one year in jail.
McCardie’s jail term began on Aug. 16, and he will be ineligible for any work release or for parole until his full one year sentence is served.
Zahnd said, “This defendant is a sick voyeur. Any man who would spy on his own stepdaughter with a camera hidden in her bedroom deserves the maximum possible sentence for that crime.”
The case against McCardie was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Robin Threlkeld.