Former Boy Scout volunteer sentenced for hiding cameras in Missouri camp bathrooms

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2020, file photo, Boy Scouts of America uniforms are displayed in a...
FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2020, file photo, Boy Scouts of America uniforms are displayed in a retail store at the headquarters for the French Creek Council of the Boy Scouts of America in Summit Township, Pa. In an agreement announced Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, attorneys in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy have reached a tentative settlement under which one of the organization's largest insurers would contribute $800 million into a fund for victims of child sexual abuse.(Christopher Millette/Erie Times-News via AP, File)
Published: May. 3, 2024 at 2:55 PM CDT
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former Boy Scout volunteer has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for hiding cameras in a bathroom at a Missouri camp.

A federal judge on Thursday also ordered David Lee Nelson, a 41-year-old from Redmond, Washington, to pay more than $60,000, with some of the money going toward counseling for the victims. Some of them described at the hearing being fearful and unable to trust because of what happened.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Nelson placed the cameras in paper towel dispensers in July 2021, positioning them so they would capture a shower stall and other parts of the bathroom at the S Bar F Scout Ranch in St. Francois County.

The camp is about 80 miles south of St. Louis.

Scouts were cleaning restroom stalls with a leader when one of the cameras was discovered. A search ensued, and another camera was found. Leaders then called law enforcement.

Nelson pleaded guilty in January to two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of attempted production of child pornography.

Once released from prison, he will be on supervised release for life, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

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