Installing a Spy Camera to Film Son’s Girlfriend Sinks Clearance Reinstatement

Just when you think you can’t hear anything new when it comes to security clearance applicants doing things that cost them access eligibility, another Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case comes around that just makes you shake your head and say, “What the heck was he thinking?”  Here are the highlights of one such case.

The applicant had his clearance eligibility revoked by the Department of War due to criminal conduct concerns that occurred in 2023. His son and the son’s girlfriend moved back into the applicant’s house in 2021. Having known the son’s girlfriend since she was 16, the applicant considered her a future daughter-in-law. However, sometime in 2023 the applicant started planting a small spy camera with an SD card in the bedroom when he knew the girlfriend would be changing clothes. This repeatedly occurred over the course of several months until one day, the girlfriend spotted the camera while she was having sex with the applicant’s son.

The son and girlfriend brought the camera to the police station for inspection and the police found numerous images of the girlfriend in various stages of undress and nakedness. Charges were filed and the applicant was eventually convicted of Peeping Tom and visual surveillance-private area and sentenced to one year incarceration and three years of supervised probation.  The DOHA judge in this case was of the opinion that although three years had passed since this behavior occurred, the applicant was in fact still on probation. He also noted that the behavior did not happen just one time, but numerous times, which was calculated and displayed poor judgement. Clearance eligibility reinstatement was denied. You can read the entire case summary here.