A former UC Santa Barbara student originally arrested in February 2022 for allegedly hiding a camera in the bathroom of an Isla Vista residence was jailed and charged with 26 misdemeanor counts of “unlawful electronic peeping” last Wednesday.
Recording devices were discovered by law enforcement at Asinobi’s residence last year. Courtesy of Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office
The former student, Justin Asinobi, had his bail set at $200,000 and was booked in the Santa Barbara County Jail last Wednesday night.
Noozhawk reported that 12 of the counts pertain to identified victims and the remaining 14 involve unidentified victims, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Megan Chanda.
The “unlawful electronic peeping” charge alleges that Asinobi “willfully and unlawfully used a concealed motion picture camera or photographic camera to secretly videotape, film, photograph or record … for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by that other person” without consent, court records obtained by the Nexus stated.
Asinobi was originally charged on Feb. 15, 2022 with one felony — invasion of privacy by means of an electronic device — and one misdemeanor, eavesdropping, when he was arrested by the Isla Vista Foot Patrol for hiding a camera at a residence on the 6500 block of Madrid Road.
In August 2022, two misdemeanor charges filed against Asinobi were dismissed despite his lawyer’s attempts to file a guilty plea. Chanda told the Nexus in a statement at the time that the decision not to accept his guilty plea was “to not jeopardize any future case that may evolve from the initial reported conduct.”
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office Community Resource Deputy Justin Schroeder said to the Nexus in August that the investigation into Asinobi was ongoing and deputies were continuing to search for potential evidence against him.
A version of this article appeared on pg. 1 of the March 1, 2023 Daily Nexus
