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Police: Barclay secretly videotaped "100 to 500" sexual encounters with
hidden camera network

By staff reports, April 9, 2008

Last updated: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 12:29 PM EDT

State police say former Republican Cumberland County commissioner Bruce
Barclay videotaped hundreds of sexual encounters - many with male escorts -
using cameras hidden throughout his Monroe Township home.

Police say the sexual encounters were videotaped without the knowledge of
the participants, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Tuesday
with Magisterial District Judge Susan Day. Court documents say cameras were
installed in January of 2007.

Investigators are searching items seized from Barclay's residence a second
time in relation to a rape investigation.

Reading a prepared statement, Barclay's attorney, Matthew Gover, said
although he and Barclay do not agree with everything in the affidavit, "It
is clear in my client's private life he has made an error of judgment. What
is striking is this very same lack of judgment exonerates him from a rape
allegation that wasn't going anywhere."

Gover emphasized the Barclay's misjudgment never extended into his role as a
county commissioner, which he said Barclay "always handled with honor."
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'Hiring of prostitutes'

According to court documents, Trooper Bryan R. Henneman said he "received
information prior to the search warrant that Barclay had been involved in
the hiring of prostitutes."

During a subsequent interview, Henneman said Barclay admitted to hiring
prostitutes on a weekly basis at his residence in Monroe Twp."

The affidavit describes several such encounters with an Internet escort
service known as "harrisburgfratboys.com." Court documents indicate Barclay
twice flew a 19-year-old man referred to as "W.M." to his West Palm Beach
home. During a trip last month, "W.M" told investigators that Barclay flew a
male prostitute from Binghamton, N.Y., and paid that man $1,500.

Hidden camera network

The affidavit describes a hidden camera network that included cameras hidden
in a bathroom, bedrooms and "indoor recreational areas." Cameras were hidden
inside AM/FM radios, motion detectors and intercom speaker systems, court
documents say.

During an interview with Barclay, Henneman said he "admitted to using the
cameras to record sexual encounters." Police say Barclay saved between 100
and 500 encounters on his computer system.

According to court documents "Barclay stated that no one else was aware of
the hidden cameras and also that no one else was aware that the sexual
encounters were videotaped or gave him permission to videotape the
encounters."

Business camera

Henneman said Barclay also admitted to having a camera installed at his
business along the 500 block of North York Street in Mechanicsburg.
According to court documents, Barclay told Henneman that one sexual
encounter was filmed on that camera, which also fed into his home computer
network.

Barclay told Henneman that "at least" five additional males were filmed
having sex "who were unaware that they were being filmed."

Police seeking help

Barclay is the focus of the investigation, according to court documents.

Trooper Karl Schmidhamer said the state police are asking anyone who "feels
they may have been a victim" of illegal acts inside Barclay's home to call
1-866-898-8477. No charges have been filed against Barclay, he stressed.

The search warrant was obtained from Day's office. The warrant has not been
sealed and police say "it contains probable cause to further an
investigation into invasion of privacy and prostitution."

Barclay resigned April 2 after his home was searched upon the news of
allegations of a March 30 rape at his home.