Lee County Sheriff’s Office employee arrested for video voyeurism

Reporter: Dannielle Garcia Writer: Melissa Montoya
Published: Updated:
Phillip Seeley (CREDIT: arrest warrant)

A Lee County Sheriff’s Office employee has been arrested and fired from his job after investigators accused him of video voyeurism.

Phillip Seeley, 33, was arrested on Monday and remained in Lee County Jail Tuesday, records show. The sheriff’s office did not disclose Seeley’s role at the agency, but divorce documents show he was a mechanic with the agency. He is accused of six counts of video voyeurism.

According to a news release by the sheriff’s office, a Nov. 2020 investigation began after the agency received a complaint of video voyeurism stemming from an incident in North Fort Myers.

The sheriff’s office said detectives learned Seeley installed a recording device to secretly record and view a woman at a time and place where she had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

“I have a 9-month-old son, so it’s actually pretty scary just like thinking somebody could be doing that right around the corner from your house,’ Tiffany Brumagin said.

Neighbors say they saw a heavy police presence a few weeks ago when deputies searched Seeley’s home, but they never imagined what he’s accused of would be the reason why.

“It’s kind of disgusting honestly and weirdly to know,” Brumagin said. “I kind of grew up here.”

According to the warrant, the LCSO employee was watching and recording a woman while she was, “dressing, undressing or privately exposing her body,” in 2019 from Jan. 11 to 14.

A heavily redacted arrest warrant shows the woman turned over six devices, and from there, detectives found Seeley had four videos and six photos on his Google Drive.

Rich Kolko, WINK News’ Safety & Security Specialist, said there’s still a lot more questions.

“Did he have other intentions with his video? Something called revenge porn? Was he threatening to post it online? Was he trying to extort her for money?” Kolko said. “All that information will come out later when they show up in court.”

We are working to find out how Seeley knew the victim and how he was able to install the device.

“As the Sheriff of Lee County, I have zero tolerance for this behavior, especially when it involves a Sheriff’s Office employee” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement. “I’m disappointed to say the least.”

Seeley posted $60,000 bond and was released from Lee County Jail.

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