Jail for Elk River man who hid camera in Mall of America fitting room, recorded females getting undressed

An Elk River man has been sentenced to jail for recording women and girls undressing in the fitting room of a Mall of America store.

Trevor Nielson, 42, was also accused of similar acts at swimming pools, parks and Elk River High School.

Nielson's sentence of 90 days in jail comes after he pleaded guilty to interference with the privacy of a minor, a felony. As part of the plea deal, Judge Martha Holton Dimick agreed to stay a three-year prison term.

In September 2019, an employee at the mall's Forever 21 store noticed that a man had been in a fitting room for an unusually long period. The employee thought she had seen him at the store before and had discovered a video camera hidden in a dressing room.

Police arrived, and they found on him his cellphone, a roll of double-sided tape and strips of cut tape, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers confiscated Nielson's electronic devices and found images of naked and partly clad females, the complaint continued. Many were likely under age 18, the complaint said.

Police found other videos from a camera that had been attached to Nielson's shoe or lower pant leg used to record video of women trying on clothing, the complaint read. Officers also found videos in his possession of students at Elk River High School and of teenage girls at pools and parks, according to the complaint.