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Detectives Charge Man with Visual Surveillance at a Rockville Cheerleading Studio

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 26, 2018

Detectives from the Special Victims Investigations Division have arrested Cristian Gill, age 21, of Blandford Street in Rockville, for conducting visual surveillance of juveniles and adults in a business' bathroom with prurient intent and without their consent.

On February 12, Montgomery County Police officers responded to the Shockwave Allstars cheerleading program located at 20 Southlawn Court in Rockville for a suspicious situation.  The complainant, the owner of the business, explained that on February 9, an employee called him and let him know that someone had left a USB or similar device near a sink in a unisex bathroom in the studio.  The owner, who was out of town, instructed the employee to leave it by the computer and that he would attempt to locate the device's owner when he returned to the business.

The owner stated that earlier in the day on February 12, Cristian Gill, a gymnastics and cheerleading instructor at the studio, requested a meeting with him and they met in the parking lot of the business.  When they met, Gill handed the owner the device which had been found by the other employee in the bathroom (and which the employee had left by the computer).  Gill told him that the device was a camera he had placed in the bathroom and that he never recorded anything.  Gill showed him where in the bathroom he placed the camera.  Gill was asked to leave the property and he (the owner) notified the Police Department.

Officers took custody of the device, a camera designed to avoid detection.  A SD card can be inserted into the camera to store and transfer data and the camera also has internal storage capabilities.

A review of the business' surveillance video by detectives indicated that Gill left the studio on February 9 presumably with his camera that had been found by another employee and did not return to the studio until February 12 when he met with the owner.

During a search of Gill's home, (at the time he was residing in Silver Spring), investigators seized several electronic devices.  Forensic analysis of the devices by Electronic Crimes Unit officers was completed and approximately 49 photographs that had been taken in the Shockwave Allstars bathroom were located on an electronic tablet.  The photos were of both female and male adults and juveniles.  There were also photographs of Gill putting the camera into place in the bathroom.  Forensic analysis also revealed that there had been additional images and video files from the bathroom on the tablet but that at some point, all of the original photos were deleted from the device.

During this investigation, several of the victims from the images have been identified.  These identified victims are juvenile females and female and male adults.  Some of the photographs are not of a complete person and therefore identification in these cases is difficult if not impossible.  Investigators believe that the victims who are able to be identified have been identified and have been notified.

On April 24, detectives obtained a warrant for Gil's arrest, charging him with multiple counts of conducting visual surveillance of another person in a private place without consent.  Gil was arrested yesterday (April 25) and was transported to the Central Processing Unit.  He was held without bond and will have bond review today.

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call Special Victims Investigations Division detectives at 240-773-5400. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

RLI

Cristian GillCristian Gill (Original Image)


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Release ID: 18-170
Media Contact: mcpnews 
Categories: sexual-offense, uncategorized