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Home / World

US federal agent caught on video smelling girl's underwear

NZ Herald
2 Feb, 2020 11:02 PM3 mins to read

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Moon spotted the camera on his second visit to the bedroom. Photo / ABC15

Moon spotted the camera on his second visit to the bedroom. Photo / ABC15

Warning: Disturbing content

A US law enforcement officer has been sentenced after he was caught on video smelling a child's soiled underwear in her bedroom.

Deputy US Marshal David Timothy Moon, 50, was viewing a house for sale in Phoenix, Arizona, last May when he committed the act, ABC15 reported.

While the real estate agent was elsewhere in the house, Moon snuck into a 3-year-old girl's bedroom and made a beeline for the laundry hamper.

READ MORE:
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Video shows Moon removing a pair of girl's underwear before holding them close to his face, appearing to smell them.

Shockingly, after leaving the room he later returned to repeat his actions.

This time, however, he noticed that there was a "nanny camera" in the room.

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Video shows him covering his mouth and saying "goddamn it".

Moon, who had been a federal agent for more than 20 years, was fired when the allegations first surfaced.

The police report into the case revealed other disturbing details, with Moon's girlfriend telling investigators that he threw out his computer when he learned that police were hunting for him.

He also had a video of "girls doing gymnastics" in an email he sent to his own Gmail account.

Moon pulled the underwear from the hamper. Photo / ABC15
Moon pulled the underwear from the hamper. Photo / ABC15
Moon spotted the camera on his second visit to the bedroom. Photo / ABC15
Moon spotted the camera on his second visit to the bedroom. Photo / ABC15

Moon was indicted on two counts of felony trespassing with sexual motivation. He later cut a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to misdemeanour trespassing, ABC15 reported.

"This is by far the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life," Moon said in court during his sentencing, where the judge took into account Moon's prior military service and police work when agreeing to a deal that will see him serve his probation unsupervised.

The sentence was passed despite the girl's father telling the court he had increased security at home following the incident.

"What if he comes back?" the dad said. "What if he tries to hurt us or our daughter? What if he loses his job and has nothing else to lose?"

Prosecutors also argued for supervision, with Deputy County Attorney Marcus Beecher saying: "The actions by the defendant, in this case, show a need for evaluation, show a need for potential treatment, and that's going to go unnoticed, untreated if there's no evaluation done in this case."

The judge's decision means that Moon can apply for his trespassing charge to be set aside after he completes his probation.

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