Public defender request denied for tanning salon owner accused of spying on customers

MALDEN, Mo. -- A Malden businessman who was recently charged with several counts of invasion of privacy and possession of child pornography following an investigation at his tanning salon has been denied in his request for a public defender.

Court records show that Joseph Layland, Jr., 36, filed an application Tuesday for public defender services.

After reviewing the application, the public defender's office notified the court that Layland "is not indigent and does not qualify for public defender services."

The court also determined that Layland did not qualify for the services, and has the means available to employ his own counsel.

An arraignment was held for Layland, where Dunklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jonce Chidister appeared on behalf of the state. Layland was present and advised of the charges against him. He is presently charged with four counts of felony possession of child pornography and six counts of felony invasion of privacy. The charges developed after investigators allegedly uncovered a large trove of child pornography, in addition to hours of video footage, illegally recorded, depicting images of patrons at his tanning salon.

Approximately 1,700 items were seized including 18 to 24 hours of footage from the salon, according to early reports from Malden police chief Jarrett Bullock. The Delta News Citizen of Malden reported that two truckloads and a patrol car were filled with evidence including VHS cassettes, DVDs and two hard drives, as well as surveillance equipment. One bin containing evidence weighed 100 pounds and a single box contained over 400 DVDs.

"It is certainly a large number of images and videos," Dunklin County Prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff told the newspaper.

The police department was tipped off initially by a female customer who reported noticing a suspicious hole in a wall within her tanning room. She told officers that after inspecting the hole, she saw a reflection she believed was projected from a camera lens. According to police, the woman was correct, and behind the 1/4-inch hole, was what Bullock called a surveillance operation with a relatively simple setup.

Layland gave police consent to search the business, which is how they discovered the surveillance equipment, in addition to videos relating to that operation. Police said they also found child pornography belonging to the businessman. Police say that many of the child pornography images seem to have been downloaded from the Internet, rather than referencing or exposing local individuals, as with the tanning salon footage.

Layland is being held at the Dunklin County Justice Center on a $500,000 cash bond while prosecutors continue their investigation. Dunklin County Circuit Court Judge John C. Spielman has been assigned to the case, and a counsel status hearing has been set for the defendant at 9 a.m. March 1.

Pertinent address:

Malden, MO