An ex-San Diego Navy hospital employee who harassed a female co-worker and installed a hidden camera in her office was sentenced Friday to seven months in federal prison.
Jonathan Sandoval recorded the co-worker as she was changing clothes in her office, then emailed her nude images of herself that he captured from the recording, according to prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the email he sent read, “This is you naked. I’ll make sure and send all your videos of you changing. Have fun at work.”
Leading up to that email, Sandoval went into the woman’s office and looked through her belongings. He was also accused of messaging the woman repeatedly despite her requests for him to stop contacting her.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal stalking charge.
The victim attended Sandoval’s sentencing hearing and told U.S. District Judge Robert Huie that Sandoval sent her the email after he had been fired from his job for his conduct towards her.
She then secured a restraining order against him.
“I want to make sure he does understand that what happened was unacceptable, and it should have never gotten to that point,” she told the judge.
Prior to imposing the sentence, Huie told Sandoval, “You had just been fired from your job and you held the victim responsible even though you were the one responsible.”
Assistant U. S. Attorney Andrew Sherwood said Sandoval has asserted all photographs from the hidden camera have been deleted.
“But there really is no way to know,” the prosecutor told Huie. “This is something that this victim is going to have to deal with for the rest of her life.”
Sandoval’s defense attorney, Jeremy Warren, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that his client’s “conduct was inexcusable, and he is truly ashamed.” Warren wrote that Sandoval “realized his error right away and deleted the pictures,” and has also honored the victim’s restraining order by not contacting her.
Warren said in court that Sandoval has since been “forced to address” his behaviors and has since changed for the better.
–City News Service
