News

Taunton man sentenced for secretly recording young family member in shower

A Taunton man was sentenced to serve three to five years in state prison for secretly recording a young family member in the shower and possessing child pornography, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn.

Darin McNeil, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography and one count of posing or exhibiting a child in the nude after an arrest in 2018.

On May 18, 2018, the Foxborough Police Department received a report from workers at The Learning Experience, a day care center in Foxborough, after an employee said they found a device appearing to be an ink pen with a video and audio recorder in an employee bathroom.

>>MORE: Man accused of putting recording device in adult bathroom at day care

Officers found during an investigation that the recorder had video of McNeil allegedly placing it in the bathroom to secretly videotape women in the bathroom, and also learned the defendant worked at the center that day as an electrical subcontractor.

Recording devices were examined five days later, and one of the recorders showed video from a residential bathroom showing a naked, young girl emerging from the shower.

On May 24, detectives executed a search warrant on McNeil's East Taunton home, and found several empty boxes for spy pen camera, assorted computer equipment and several thumb drives.

Two of the thumb drives allegedly had a total of 63 pornographic images of nude children, and police also found a fire pit in McNeil's backyard, where computer components were allegedly found burned.

Detectives were able to identify the victim who was recorded exiting the shower, and McNeil was sentenced by Judge Raffi Yessayan.

>>RELATED: 25 Investigates: Many Mass. day cares failing the children they are paid to keep safe

Assistant District Attorney Jose Vazquez argued for a five to seven year state prison sentence based on the "heinous, predatory nature of the defendant's conduct," but the sentence was determined to be three to five years.

McNeil will also be placed on supervised probation with GPS monitoring for three years following his release from prison, and he will have to register as a sex offender, attend sex offender treatment, and will have to stay away from and have no contact with the victim.

He also will not be able to live with or have any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16, and can't volumteer or work at any job with anyone under that age.

His GPS monitoring will also have a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“The defendant engaged in perverted and very disturbing behavior which is difficult to comprehend. I would like to commend the Taunton police department for their efforts in this case which resulted in a state prison sentence that was well deserved,” District Attorney Quinn said.