Lansdale Man Allegedly Recorded Women in Century Plaza Bathroom

Keith Heffintrayer•

Ramit Sarder, 20, of Lansdale.

A Lansdale man is facing multiple misdemeanor charges, following an investigation revealing he allegedly recorded more than a dozen women who were using a second-floor bathroom at Century Plaza.

Ramit Islam Sarder, 20, of the 200 block of West Sixth Street, has been charged with 15 counts of invasion of privacy, with each count corresponding to a single incident and victim. He was also charged with unsworn falsification to authorities for allegedly lying during the investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, members of the Lansdale Borough Police Department responded to Century Plaza, located along the 100 block of West Main Street, on July 30, 2018, for a report of a man in the women’s bathroom. Upon arrival, a female victim informed police that while she was in a stall, she allegedly saw a man point a cell phone from below the adjoining wall of a neighboring stall.

The report states that the victim attempted to confront the man — later allegedly identified as Sarder — but the suspect ran out. Employees also informed police that they had observed a man in that bathroom earlier that day and in prior weeks, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Police then identified and interviewed Sarder, who allegedly admitted to being in the bathroom and using his phone to record women. Sarder reportedly stated that he only recorded women on that day — July 30, 2018 — but an examination of his phone showed videos from eight other days, according to the report. Those days include Dec. 20 and Dec. 28 of 2017, as well as Jan. 2, Jan. 19, Feb. 19, Feb. 27, April 23, June 12 and July 30 of 2018.

The criminal complaint documents each recording, stating that all videos recorded women using either the toilet or the sink of the second-floor bathroom. Sarder reportedly captured the videos by quickly moving the phone underneath the stall doors, without the victims' knowledge or consent, according to the criminal complaint.

Sarder’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 11:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine. The criminal complaint was filed on Oct. 2.

(Editor's note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)