Man pleads guilty to secretly recording nude videos

COEUR d’ALENE — A man is in custody after confessing to secretly making nude videos of children and adults.

Michael S. Wall, 51, of Coeur d’Alene, pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possession of sexually exploitative material and four counts of video voyeurism using a device, all felonies.

Wall pleaded guilty under an Alford plea to the first count of sexual exploitation of a child, specifically relating to the possession of “approximately 390 photographs and/or videos” depicting child sexual abuse. In entering an Alford plea, Wall did not admit guilt but acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to convict him at trial.

The Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force launched an investigation after a cloud storage company reported that a user, later identified as Wall, had uploaded child pornography material to his account.

A search of Wall’s storage account found more than 400 files containing child abuse material, court documents state, as well as more than 200 files “that appeared to be self-produced ‘upskirt’-style videos” of children and adults, dating back to 2006.

Some of the videos appeared to have been recorded at Wall’s former workplace, Willamette Valley Bank in Coeur d’Alene, where he worked as a loan officer. Wall also placed a hidden camera in the men’s showers at Peak Fitness in Coeur d’Alene, court records said.

Prosecutors say Wall secretly placed recording devices in places “where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” including bathrooms and under a dining room table, at multiple locations in Kootenai and Bonner counties between 2020 and 2024. The devices captured videos of adults and children bathing or undressing, court documents said.

Police arrested Wall in June on a $500,000 warrant. He later posted bail.

Wall originally faced 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and seven counts of video voyeurism. In exchange for Wall’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped several charges. The remaining charges include all of the crimes listed in the original indictments, according to court records.

After Wall pleaded guilty, First District Judge Ross Pittman ordered Wall remanded in custody pending sentencing on December 5.

Sexual exploitation of a child through possession of sexually exploitative material is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while video voyeurism carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.