Springfield, MO- An employee of a Springfield tanning salon was searching for a lost homework assignment on a business computer Friday when she found something sinister in the digital recycling bin – images of a long-time customer lying nude in a tanning bed.

The woman contacted police, who served a search warrant that night. They found a hidden camera and other equipment, as well as about 40 digital video files depicting at least 19 partially- or fully-nude female patrons of Paradise Sun Tanning Salon at 1607 W. Republic Road, Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe said Wednesday.

The videos were apparently captured by a camera hidden near the foot of one of the facility’s tanning beds and recorded electronically between about Nov. 30 and Dec. 9.

The store’s owner, Brett Patrick Kent, 33, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged Wednesday with two counts of second-degree invasion of privacy, a class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

He was being held Wednesday in Greene County Jail with bond set at $25,000, Rowe said.

Rowe said additional or more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues – some of the women who were surreptitiously videotaped were underage, and it is still unknown whether any of the files were distributed to the Internet or elsewhere.

Police are still trying to identify other possible victims, and they ask that anyone who tanned at the salon between Nov. 30 and Dec. 9 contact the department at 864-1810.

Kent purchased the tanning salon on Oct. 21 and operated it under the name 360 Degrees Tan, LLC, according to the probable cause statement filed in the case.

After finding the files Friday, the female employee – who had worked at the salon before the change in ownership – called several former managers and was put in touch with the salon’s previous owner, Doug Feller.

“She was bawling and said basically that she found pictures on the computer and didn’t know what to do,” said Feller, who still owns the Paradise Sun facility in Nixa.

Feller said he contacted his attorney and accompanied the woman to police headquarters, where she described the files and told detectives that Kent, who often worked at the store alone, had recently rearranged the beds and mirrors in the tanning rooms.

As the investigation continued this week, police found packaging and shipping documents at Kent’s home that showed he had recently purchased a “pin hole camera” identical to the one uncovered at the tanning salon, court documents said. Several victims interviewed by police have confirmed that they were depicted in some of the videos.

Rowe said Wednesday that the case highlights an increasingly common danger. “This is one of those cases that seems to be happening more often as time goes on” and technology advances, he said.

He suggested that it may be time for city officials to consider changes to how tanning salons – where patrons may be nude or partially so – are licensed. “We (police) can monitor tanning facilities without much difficulty.”

Chastity Bedlion, a former patron of Kent’s salon, had another suggestion:

“I don’t think they should let single younger men purchase tanning salons where women get naked, if that’s what it takes,” said Bedlion, who had been going to the Republic Road salon for about a year.

Bedlion, 21, said she was disturbed to learn she might have been taped at the salon. Police have not publicly released the names of the victims who have been identified.

“They needed to arrest him and they need to charge him with as much as they can,” Bedlion said. “I’ve talked to a few other people who go there – everybody feels the same way.”

Feller, who sold the business to Kent and his father, David Kent, and licensed the Paradise Sun name, said he hoped the investigation and arrest hasn’t sullied the salon’s name.

“We had a very good name and a very high clientele,” Feller said. “We worked hard to build that, and for someone to ruin it for such a stupid thing is just infuriating.”

Feller said he financed the sale of the business to the Kents and has already sent notice demanding payment in full, as well as revoking the right to use the name.

Because the Nixa and Springfield locations no longer share a common database of customers, Feller said he is not able to honor memberships or package deals customers of the Springfield store may have had unless ownership reverts to him. Regardless, Feller said, he is committed to clearing the name of the salon.

“You work a long time to build your name up,” Feller said. “I will work hard to build it back.”