ST. CLOUD -- A Rice man has been charged with seven criminal counts of interfering with privacy after he allegedly placed a cellphone camera in a family bathroom at Crossroads Shopping Center.

Twenty-four-year-old Joshua Lavalle faces one count for each victim, including two felonies because those victims were children.

According to the criminal complaint, Lavalle and his girlfriend were at Crossroads on Black Friday and she said Lavalle had made several trips into two unisex bathrooms that morning because he said he didn't feel well. A mall employee later discovered the phone propped up on the baseboards under the sink and discovered the video recordings on it.

Police used a search warrant to learn Lavalle owns the phone and matched his driver's license photo to the recording of him placing the phone in the bathroom.

A review of the videos shows the phone had been moved between two bathrooms that day. Some of the videos also show the private areas of the female victims. The complaint says the victims have no idea they were being recorded.

Records also show Lavalle had an outstanding warrant from Crow Wing County for a similar crime. Lavalle is out of jail on bail.

His next Stearns County hearing is in January.

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