ST. LOUIS — 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, part of which will go toward counseling for the victims. Some of them described during the hearing that they were scared and could not trust because of what had happened.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Nelson placed the cameras inside paper towel dispensers in July 2021 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 located about 80 miles (128.75 kilometers) south of St. Louis.
Scouts were cleaning toilets 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 making child sexual abuse images and two counts of attempting to make child sexual abuse images.
Once he is released from prison, he will serve a lifetime of supervised release, the U.S. Department of Justice said.