Judge: If I Could Legally Have You Castrated, I Would

Ryan Alden gets life plus 150 years for secretly planting cameras in people's homes
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 22, 2019 4:45 PM CDT
Judge: If I Could Legally Have You Castrated, I Would
In this Nov. 1, 2018 booking photo provided by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office is Ryan Alden.   (Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office via AP)

"If the law allowed me to have you castrated, I would." So said a judge Wednesday in explaining why Ryan Alden would get life behind bars plus nearly 150 years, the Oklahoman reports. The 39-year-old Oklahoma man, who hid cameras in people's homes, had pleaded guilty to felonies including manufacturing child pornography and using video equipment in a clandestine manner. His defense attorney requested 10 years plus probation, but Judge Amy Palumbo wasn't having it. She also brushed off a mental evaluation that Alden was treatable. "We're here because of the choices that you and you alone made," she said. "The devastation that you caused these families may never be known."

Alden was accused of recording a "staggering" number of people after secretly placing cameras in closets, bedrooms, and bathrooms while doing electrical work for security-system installations, per KFOR. He also shot upskirt videos of women in churches, athletic centers, and restaurants around Oklahoma City. Victims or their loved ones submitted painful court statements, with several saying they needed therapy and would always ask if their private images were available online. Indeed, prosecutors said Alden had likely shared videos found on his computers and cellphones. "I'm just truly sorry," Alden said when leaving the courtroom. Did he get a fair sentence? "Probably with everything I did, yes, but I can't, I don't know for sure." (More child sexual abuse material stories.)

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