TRAVERSE CITY — Christopher L. Morrison set a up surveillance camera to record his co-workers in a restroom in part because of his anxiety problems, he said.
Thirteenth Circuit Judge Philip E. Rodgers didn't buy the excuse.
"I'm confused why an anxiety issue would cause you to surreptitiously record the genitals of your co-workers," he said.
Rodgers on Friday sentenced Morrison, 29, to three months in jail and three years of probation on a single count of capturing or distributing images of an unclothed person. Morrison pleaded guilty to the charge in November.
Morrison hid video cameras in employee bathrooms at Master Dry Cleaners' locations on Pine Street and East Eighth Street. He taped several employees as they used the facilities, authorities said.
A camera recovered from the Eighth Street location was disguised as a cellphone charger, police said. Morrison worked for the business, but was fired at about the time of his September arrest.
"I can't even begin to say how sorry I am," Morrison told Rodgers. "Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. I know I invaded people's privacy, and nobody deserves that ... I never meant to make my problems anyone else's."
Rodgers had stern words for Morrison.
"I don't know from looking at you today that you truly appreciate what a staggering intrusion this is to a person's privacy," he said. "The notion that someone is going to use the restroom -- one of the most private, personal activities someone can perform -- and someone has actually gone through the effort ... to take pictures of their genitals is bizarre and deviant."
Rodgers expressed surprise at state sentencing guidelines that called for only three months jail time. Such guidelines take into account a person's prior criminal history, among other things. Morrison had none.
"The guidelines here are shockingly modest," the judge said.
