A Vista man who possessed child pornography and also secretly recorded an underage girl showering at his home via hidden camera was sentenced Friday to seven years in federal prison.
Following his release from custody, Jeffrey John Lenhof, 41, will also be on supervised release for 10 years, during which he will be required to comply with conditions that include a prohibition from having contact with minors or accessing the Internet.
Lenhof pleaded guilty last year to a receipt of child pornography count, following a law enforcement investigation into suspected child pornography on his computer.
Homeland Security Investigations found that from as early as March 2017, child pornography files were made available from his home via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
A search warrant served at his home in April of 2019 resulted in the seizure of three computers, an iPhone and an SD card that contained child pornography or were used to download or view child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Investigators also found videos that appeared to have been recorded with hidden cameras in his home and other locations.
One video showed a teenage girl, aged 13 or 14, entering the bathroom of his home, undressing and showering, with no indication she is aware of the camera's presence, court documents state. The U.S. Attorney's Office said a man witnesses confirmed was Lenhof can be seen setting up the camera prior to the girl entering the bathroom and retrieving it after she left.
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A second search warrant served at his home last year led to the seizure of three additional hidden cameras, prosecutors said.
"Today's sentencing highlights the hard work of our agents and the U.S. Attorney's Office to take a child predator offline, and should serve as a warning to others who perpetuate the exploitation of children,'' said Cardell T. Morant, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
"Every one of the images and movies Lenhof produced and possessed was created at the expense of an innocent child, and sending criminals like Lenhof to jail will continue to be a top priority for HSI."
