The husband of a Juanita High School volleyball coach has been charged with voyeurism in a case involving many of the coach’s players.
Kirkland resident Steve C. Meeks, 23, is accused of videotaping five victims while in a restroom during a non-high school sanctioned team sleepover on Nov. 5, according to charging documents. He was arrested Nov. 9.
Meeks confessed to placing a camera in the warehouse bathroom for his “sexual gratification,” according to court records.
A judge set his bail at $25,000, despite not having a criminal record. The state has requested a no contact order for Meeks and the minors involved.
Meeks is currently out of custody, pending arraignment on Jan. 26 at the King County Courthouse.
Lake Washington School District spokesperson Kathryn Reith said, “No one should be subject to the kind of invasion of privacy that happened to a group of Juanita High School student athletes. We are proud of the students for immediately reporting this crime and appreciate the fast work of the King County Sheriff’s officers in making an arrest.”
The Reporter attempted to contact Meeks for comment but the number listed in court documents has been disconnected.
Meek’s wife, who was a coach for the Juanita High School volleyball team and a former coach of the Kamiakin Junior High volleyball team, arranged for the Rebel volleyball players to have a sleepover at her father’s Woodinville warehouse, in the 14200 block of N.E. 200th St.
The only people who knew about the sleepover were Meeks, Meeks’ wife, her mother, the volleyball players and there were to be no male participants, according to court documents.
During the evening, a hidden video camera was spotted in the ceiling tile of the woman’s bathroom by a 17-year-old high school student as she was using the toilet.
The coach and her mother were notified and the volleyball team was moved out of the warehouse. The coach’s mother then contacted the warehouse manager, according to court documents.
The manager located the camera, which was identified as the camera from the surveillance system bought by the company to set up in the warehouse. He then dismantled the system and after assisting the volleyball team out of the warehouse, contacted the King County Sheriff’s Department, the documents continue.
The camera was found to be connected to a Digital Video Recorder. Sheriffs detectives found footage of two young women using the restroom and others looking at the video camera.
The investigation found that Meeks was the one who had access to the facility and placed the camera in the women’s bathroom.
Meeks claimed that his intensions were to “spy” on a female co-worker who he knew would be using the restroom on the following Monday, however he was aware of the volleyball party, assisted in setting up the party for his wife and knew the girls would be spending the night using the bathroom, court documents said.
