Seneca County Prosecutor files motion to dismiss charge against Bellevue man accused of voyeurism

TIFFIN — The Seneca County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion in court Monday to dismiss a voyeurism charge against a Bellevue man accused of secretly recording inside the women’s locker room at Mohawk Golf and Country Club.

Nicholas A. Dendinger, 38, was charged in December 2019 with voyeurism, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court records.

Dendinger’s LinkedIn profile lists him as the “head golf professional” at the club.

The investigation was launched in September 2019 when deputies with the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the club in Tiffin, where they found an Apple MacBook Pro along with the hidden camera inside of a USB wall charging adapter.

Court documents show that Detective Kevin Reinbolt with the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office was tipped off by a board member of the club.

The board member reportedly told Reinbolt that he found something “suspicious” in the women’s locker room.

Dendinger admitted that he placed the camera in the locker room.

According to Reinbolt, five video clips were found on the micro SD card located in the hidden “spy cam,” which was discovered after Reinbolt disassembled the charging adapter.

However, according to court records, the Seneca County Prosecutor’s Office says the footage only showed Dendinger while he was setting up the camera/retrieving it, as well as a female employee at Mohawk Golf and Country Club who found the hidden camera.

Section 2907.08 of the Ohio Revised Code states:

(A) No person, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying the person’s self, shall commit trespass or otherwise surreptitiously invade the privacy of another, to spy or eavesdrop upon another.

(B) No person, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying the person’s self, shall commit trespass or otherwise surreptitiously invade the privacy of another to videotape, film, photograph, or otherwise record the other person in a state of nudity.

(C) No person, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying the person’s self, shall commit trespass or otherwise surreptitiously invade the privacy of another to videotape, film, photograph, otherwise record, or spy or eavesdrop upon the other person in a state of nudity if the other person is a minor.

(D) No person shall secretly or surreptitiously videotape, film, photograph, or otherwise record another person under or through the clothing being worn by that other person for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person.

Due to the fact Dendinger was being charged based on Section D of the code, and the footage from his camera only showed himself and a clothed female employee, the prosecutor’s office is not confident they can prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court records state.