Palatine YMCA janitor charged with recording girls in locker room

A 34-year-old custodian has been charged with using his cellphone to record video of two underage girls changing in the women's locker room at Buehler YMCA on Sunday, Palatine police say.

According to a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, the female victims quickly noticed what Elizur Gomez, of the 1500 block of Silver Lane in Palatine, was doing and notified YMCA staff members and parents, who called 911.

Police arrived on the scene just after 6:30 p.m. Sunday and located Gomez, who was still inside the building and in possession of his cellphone.

Gomez was taken to Palatine Police Headquarters where he gave a statement indicating his intent to record the females in the locker room, according to police. He was charged with two felony counts of unauthorized video recording.

Gomez worked as a member of a cleaning crew for a company hired by the YMCA to clean the building. He has since been fired from that job, according to a news release by the YMCA.

“Any contractor in our building is provided with and required to abide by our rigorous code of conduct,” the YMCA's statement read. “We insisted that the suspect be dismissed immediately for his inappropriate behavior, even while the investigation was underway.”

At his hearing at the 3rd District Rolling Meadows Courthouse Wednesday, Gomez's bond was set at $45,000. He must post 10 percent to be released. His court date was set for Aug. 4.