Sandusky County woman sues over alleged taping

5/7/2002

GIBSONBURG, Ohio - A Sandusky County woman has sued the estate of her former landlord, alleging that he secretly videotaped her during her 61/2-year stay in a Gibsonburg apartment.

In a suit filed in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court, Sandra Wallace of Kansas, Ohio, alleges that James Rogers and an unknown "John Doe 1" installed hidden video cameras in an apartment on North Ohio Street. The suit also claims that Mr. Rogers and an unknown "John Doe 2" "retrieved and viewed the videotape produced by said surveillance machinery."

Ms. Wallace lived in the apartment from October, 1994, to March, 2001. Her attorney, William Caughey of Perrysburg, declined to discuss the lawsuit. Gibsonburg police are investigating the possibility that other people besides Mr. Rogers may have been involved in the secret videotaping.

Mr. Rogers killed himself Jan. 19 during a police search of his residence that yielded more than 230 videotapes. The suit by Ms. Wallace is the sixth such complaint filed since Mr. Rogers' death.