Bathroom camera charges hinge on single victim

Conor Makem

ROCHESTER - While a forensic examination of computers belonging to a former Foster’s and Rochester Times reporter allegedly revealed images of child pornography, the headline in Friday’s online Foster’s saying he was arrested after police found child porn is not entirely accurate.
Conor Makem, the former reporter and member of a renowned musical group that plays Irish music, is charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of Invasion of Privacy and one felony count of Falsification of Physical Evidence, not child porn.
Furthermore, The Lebanon Voice has learned that the 12 counts of Invasion of Privacy are all connected with a single victim, despite affidavits indicating some 80 images of women in the Merchants Plaza bathroom. “The pictures contained numerous images of victims whom were in various stages of undress,” according to one of two affidavits written by police this week.
Makem, 45, of 5 West Concord St., Dover, has remained unavailable for comment, despite several attempts to reach him through his band’s booking agent.
The child porn images were discovered on Wednesday during a forensic study of Makem’s iMac computer which “uncovered several dozen images of child pornography,” one affidavit reads. The affidavit was executed so detectives could seize additional computers and electronic devices from Makem’s Dover home earlier this week.
Makem was a longtime Rochester Times reporter whose articles often appeared in Foster’s Daily Democrat.
His employment with both papers was terminated on Thursday shortly before his arrest. Foster’s Daily Democrat owns the Rochester Times.
In a likely reference to the alleged child porn images, Rochester Police Captain Paul Toussaint said on Thursday afternoon that the investigation is far from over and more charges are possible.
He said no other suspects are linked to the case. Toussaint said he couldn’t comment further on the nature of the child porn or the woman whom Makem allegedly photographed in the bathroom who is the basis of the 12 misdemeanor charges.
Makem, who remains free after posting $10,000 cash bail the day of his arrest, has an arraignment set next month in Rochester District Court.
The police investigation began on Oct. 7 when the woman who first discovered the suspected camera called police to ask if Makem had contacted them about the device as he had promised, and officers realized he had not.
Police on Oct. 10 executed a search warrant at the Foster’s Rochester Bureau at Merchants Plaza and seized computers and other electronic devices used by Makem, including some owned by Foster's.
Makem was arrested on Thursday afternoon at his Dover home without incident, Toussaint said.