Lawyer faces civil, criminal charges for allegedly filming minors, adults at rental property
A South Carolina lawyer allegedly hid cameras in his beach rental unit and filmed minors while they were undressing, according to a lawsuit filed in Aiken County, South Carolina, last week. (Image from Shutterstock)
A South Carolina lawyer allegedly hid cameras in his beach rental unit and filmed minors while they were undressing, according to a lawsuit filed in Aiken County, South Carolina, last week.
William “Danny” Mayes of South Carolina was charged with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy in the civil suit, which was filed Jan. 7, the State reports. It alleges that he videoed people who stayed in his unit at Folly Beach, a resort island south of Charleston, South Carolina, without their knowledge. This includes a 10-year-old child and other children, as well as adults who were nude.
Mayes was arrested in October on seven charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors in Aiken County, the South Carolina attorney general’s office announced at the time. Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and found that Mayes recorded a person without their consent and possessed child sexual-abuse material, the office said.
Mayes, a 1995 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, handled workers’ compensation, Social Security and disability cases at Smith, Massey, Brodie & Guynn in Aiken, South Carolina, according to previous reporting by the State. His law license was suspended in November, and his name no longer appears on the law firm’s webpage.
Smith, Massey, Brodie & Guynn directed the ABA Journal’s questions to Desa Ballard, a senior member of Ballard & Watson in West Columbia, South Carolina, who represents Mayes. Ballard declined to comment.
In December, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office also charged Mayes with 14 counts of voyeurism in the first degree and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree in connection with the videos, the State reports. He is free on a $260,000 bond.
Mayes could not be reached for comment.
According to the Jan. 7 civil suit, Mayes “admitted setting up cameras to record people who were renting his unit, and he confirmed he possessed a Dropbox account where officers located hundreds of videos,” the State reports. The account included videos of “nude people and children,” the State reports, citing the suit.
The plaintiff in the civil suit against Mayes is a woman who appeared in the video footage, the State also reports.
Deborah Barbier, an attorney in Columbia, South Carolina, represents the plaintiff and told the State that “hidden cameras in rental units are an epidemic.”
Barbier also said “my client is not intimidated or scared, and she intends to hold everyone accountable for these ultimate violations.”
Mayes’ wife handled the renting of the Folly Beach unit, the State reports. She is accused of negligence in the Jan. 7 suit but doesn’t face charges connected to the hidden cameras or their videos.
Hat tip to Above the Law.
