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Coeur d’Alene man accused of secretly recording nude videos at bank, gym, home

by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Hagadone News Network | June 10, 2024 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — A man who is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material and recording nude videos of children and adults without their knowledge is in jail on $500,000 bail.

Michael S. Wall, 51, of Coeur d’Alene, faces 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possession of sexually exploitative material and seven counts of video voyeurism by use of a device.

The Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating after a cloud storage company reported that a user, later identified as Wall, had uploaded child sexual abuse material to his account.

Police obtained a search warrant for the contents of Wall’s cloud storage account. The search yielded more than 400 files containing child sexual abuse material, according to court records, as well as more than 200 files “that appeared to be self-produced ‘up-skirt’ type videos” of children and adults, dating back as far as 2006.

Some of the “up-skirt” videos appeared to be recorded at Wall’s workplace, Willamette Valley Bank in Coeur d’Alene, where he was employed as a loan officer, according to court records.

Prosecutors allege Wall secretly placed recording devices in guest bathrooms and other places “where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” doing so in multiple locations in Kootenai and Bonner counties between 2020 and 2024. These devices reportedly captured videos of adults and children bathing or in states of undress.

Court records indicate that a motion-activated device recorded approximately 208 separate video files from what appeared to be a bedroom or bathroom closet in a family’s home.

Wall allegedly recorded and photographed nude men in the showers at Peak Fitness in Coeur d’Alene.

Police arrested Wall on Thursday on a $500,000 warrant.

Sexual exploitation of a child by possession of sexually exploitative material is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while video voyeurism carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.