BISMARCK – A former employee at a Bismarck Planet Fitness location has been arrested and charged with four counts of surreptitious recording after a customer found a hidden video camera in a tanning room.

Layton Kessler, 45, Bismarck, has been charged with four counts of surreptitious intrusion, a Class A misdemeanor, and made his initial appearance in south central district court in Bismarck on Wednesday afternoon.

According to court documents, Bismarck Police responded to a report at the Planet Fitness on State Street from a woman who said she had located a recording device in one of the tanning rooms at the gym. The woman shared with officers that she suspected it was Kessler, an employee whose prior behavior had made her feel uncomfortable. She said this behavior varied from awkward social media interactions, and unwanted gifts and romantic gestures. Additionally, the woman said she had noticed Kessler would consistently place her in tanning bed two and go out of his way to do so.

The woman said she had been more vigilant in checking the room recently due to Kessler’s alleged behavior, and on Monday she noticed a speaker positioned in such a way that it was facing where someone would typically undress before entering the tanning the bed. The woman searched and was able to recover a homemade object made of popsicle sticks and black tape that concealed a video recording device that resembled a key fob.

The woman told investigators she left the gym immediately upon discovering the device while also avoiding Kessler who had been moving to question and confront her about leaving. Kessler would leave the scene before law enforcement arrived, but the gym’s management shared text communications with investigators between them and Kessler, in which Kessler admitted to putting a hidden camera in the tanning room and allegedly said that he would likely be fired and go to jail.

Investigators then applied for and received a search warrant for the recording device and the SD card it contained, revealing 26 video files capturing four individual women in various stages of undress. Footage was also captured of an individual believed to be Kessler positioning and turning the device prior to the women entering the tanning room. A search warrant was later conducted on Kessler’s residence, where additional electronics were seized for future forensic examination.

Investigators say they have identified two of the women recorded in the videos and are working to identify and locate the other two. A statement shared on the Bismarck Police Department Facebook page indicated investigators have been compiling a log of possible victims who have reached out to the department since a social media post made by one of the alleged victims went viral on Monday.

The charges against Kessler remain misdemeanors under North Dakota law, which requires prior convictions or a minor victim before it can be elevated to a felony. Planet Fitness’s company policy requires all customers who use tanning beds to be aged 18 years or older. Kessler is currently being held at the Burleigh/Morton Detention Center. His next court date has not yet been scheduled.