Son of Buc-ee's co-founder indicted for secretly recording house guests in bathroom
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - The Travis County District Attorney's Office announced a grand jury has returned six separate indictments charging Mitchell Wasek, 28, with 21 counts of felony invasive visual recording.
The charges involve 13 separate victims who were alleged to have been secretly recorded by Wasek over the course of two years.
"The Travis County District Attorney’s Office takes the work of presenting all facts and evidence to a grand jury very seriously," said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. "In this case, a group of independent Travis County community members heard the evidence and law and decided that Mr. Wasek's conduct was unlawful."
According to court paperwork, a party guest spotted a charging port for a hidden camera in a bathroom wall at the family's home in Spicewood.
Witnesses took the camera and found it had filmed guests undressed in the bathroom and bedroom.
The affidavit reads, "the videos showed individuals were recorded using toilets, showering, changing clothes, and/or having sex."
The paperwork also says there were recordings from other properties from 2021 to 2023. The family either owns or lived in these properties in Austin, Dallas, and a vacation home in Colorado.
Investigators also found Wasek's online shopping history included various spy cameras and accessories.
Charlie Baird, an attorney unaffiliated with the case, provided his analysis.
"[Invasive visual recording] is the type of recording that is done without the person's consent in an area where they would expect privacy. For example, a toilet, a bathroom or something of that nature. It is done intentionally by the person who owns the camera, who owns the home where the filming is being done," he said. "Cases like this are becoming more common, and they're becoming more common because video photography is more available and common in homes these days. It's always been against the law to do this in a changing room or a public bathroom or something of that nature."
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He says it's fine for someone to have cameras in the main area of a house, but it would be a violation of the law to film in private areas.
"It has to be in an area where the individual who is photographed would expect to have an expectation of privacy, and that would be like a toilet or a bathroom or perhaps a bedroom, someplace where you can close the door and invoke your right to privacy. It would be against the law to record somebody under those circumstances," he said.
David Gonzalez, Wasek's attorney, sent a statement that reads:
"Due to the ubiquitousness of videorecording in modern society, this case involves the legal right to install cameras in one’s own home. May a homeowner install a camera in his home without telling housekeepers or guests, or does the guest have a greater legal right than the homeowner? This is one of many thorny legal issues we will be litigating in this case."