Springs Landlord Charged With Unlawful Surveillance

Tenants thought they were paying for a Hamptons getaway, but what they got was an extreme invasion of privacy, according to the Suffolk County district attorney's office.

Donald Torr, a 70-year-old Springs landlord, taped "hundreds of hours" of footage involving 22 people, including nine children, over two weeks in August 2012, Assistant District Attorney John Cortez said at Torr's arraignment in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverside on Wednesday.

Torr charged $7,000 per week for the two separate rental periods in question as a "method and tool to commit unlawful surveillance," Cortez said.

Judge John Iliou arraigned Torr on 14 counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a felony, and nine counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Torr, whose attorney said he kept the camera for security purposes only and did not view the footage, pleaded not guilty. He faces a maximum of 10 to 12 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

The case against Torr stems from a 10-month investigation that began when one of the people renting Torr's house at 18 Winterberry Lane, in the Springs section of East Hampton, noticed some suspicious wiring hanging from a television on Aug. 30, Cortez said.

The victim found a camera and searched the house, finding two more in a bedroom and one in a shower, "camouflaged in a wall of bamboo," Cortez said.

The East Hampton Town police were notified, and two search warrants were executed at the house. More cameras were discovered, in addition to a digital video recording system behind a locked door in the basement, hooked up to a router and modem that the prosecution said allowed Torr to view the recordings remotely.

In total, seven cameras were found in the house. In the master bedroom, there was allegedly one each an air conditioning vent, the baseboard heating, a television speaker, and a smoke detector in a walk-in closet.

The renter, who stayed at the house with five other adults and three children between Aug. 26 and 30, soon filed a civil lawsuit.

Another renter, who stayed at the house with six other adults and six children between Aug. 19 and 26, read an article written on the suit in October, and contacted police. "They learned they too had been victimized," Cortez said. A second lawsuit followed.

While Torr fought the civil litigation filed in court in Central Islip, he wasn't taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service until May 21. He was extradited from Florida, where he lives in Celebration. The process took several weeks, even though did not fight extradition.

Bruce Barket, Torr's Garden City attorney, took exception that the DA's office extradited him at all. "He would have surrendered had they asked him to," Barket said.

The DA's office requested $500,000 cash or $1 million bond, and asked that he surrender his passport.

Barket told the judge that Torr recently underwent radiation for a tumor on his neck and needed medical attention. He also noted that his son, a detective sergeant in a Westchester police department, was in the courtroom, along with his wife, daughter and sister-in-law. He asked that bail not exceed $20,000, but did not contest giving over the passport.

Ultimately, the judge set bail at $100,000 cash or $300,000 bond. Barket expects him to make bail within the next few days.

Temporary orders of protection were issued for the 22 alleged victims.

Torr is due back in court on July 11 before Judge Barbara Kahn.