CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – A man accused of hiding a cellphone in a restroom to record people without their consent is facing 42 counts of unlawful filming.
Chesapeake Police arrested Jeffery Curtis Leffel on June 17. He has since bonded out.
Police began their investigation into this case after someone discovered the recording device in a restroom at a Sentara medical facility and reported it.
According to court documents obtained by WAVY, a woman was using the restroom when she noticed a hidden cell phone pointed towards the toilet.
The building manager went to the bathroom to recover the phone, and then the court document states, “the employee Jeffrey Leffel walked to him saying his life was over because of this. Leffel said he placed his work phone to record people using the bathroom. That he had been doing this for years.”
Leffel has been an employee with Sentara for nine years.
The court document states Leffel admitted he would retrieve the work phone later in the day, review the recordings and copy the parts he liked onto his personal phone.
Leffel would allegedly store these files into a fake calculator file storage application.
Two phones were taken as evidence, and Leffel provided the passcodes to get into the phones.
Detectives examined the device and discovered it captured multiple victims over a long period of time.
Leffel was arrested without incident.
Police say anyone who used the single occupant restrooms at the Sentara medical facility located at 1933 Edwin Drive between December 2021 and May 2025 may be a potential victim.
Additional charges against Leffel are possible.
WAVY reached out to Sentara Health for an official statement. A spokesperson replied, and confirmed Leffel was a maintenance worker for Sentara.
Sentara said Leffel was immediately terminated on May 29 when the accusations first surfaced.
“A former Sentara maintenance worker has been arrested and charged with 42 accounts of unlawful filming by Chesapeake Police. Sentara took swift action to terminate the maintenance worker’s employment following his initial arrest. This behavior is reprehensible, and we are fully cooperating with the authorities. For additional information, due to the ongoing investigation, I must refer you to the Chesapeake Police Department.”
Mike Kafka
If you have information or concerns about this case, please contact the Crime Investigations Section of the Chesapeake Police Department at 757-382-8256 or via email at tdreed@cityofchesapeake.net.
