A Texas couple is alleging that their Airbnb host placed hidden cameras in his Maryland home, which they rented for two days in August 2022.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month against the owner, Christopher Goisse – a psychiatric nurse practitioner – states that he hid "multiple hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors… in the bathroom and bedroom at their Silver Spring Airbnb rental," where they were "intimate" together during their stay.
Kaylee Gates and Christian Capraro, who are engaged, contacted police in August 2022 after they noticed that the apparent smoke detectors in the Airbnb bedroom and bathroom had camera lenses.
"After getting settled, Plaintiffs decided to take a shower in the shared bathroom, and were intimate while in the shared bathroom. Plaintiffs then returned to the Jefferson room, where they laid down on the bed, put a movie on and began to relax," the complaint states. "…Mr. Capraro, who installs smoke detectors professionally, noticed that it was odd that there was a smoke detector in the middle of the ceiling and another one in the corner of the room."
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Gates and Capraro stood on the bed to "examine the ‘smoke detector’" and "they noticed a camera lens," at which point Gates apparently "began to hyperventilate and experience shock." They allegedly found another camera disguised as a smoke detector in the bathroom.
"I definitely have had many cry sessions about it," Gates told FOX 5 D.C. "Like, I can feel my heart start beating really heavy and fluttery whenever I start thinking about a situation. Whenever I start thinking about the situation – I get a little shaky even talking about it."
She added that she feels "embarrassment, humiliation, disgrace and loss of dignity" when she thinks about the cameras.
The couple went outside to get some fresh air after their discovery. When they decided to reenter the rental to get their belongings, Capraro apparently removed the camera from the bedroom and attempted to remove the camera in the bathroom but was unable to do so.
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After leaving the rental, Gates and Capraro contacted police and Airbnb to report the alleged hidden cameras. The couple met up with a Montgomery County Police Department officer at a nearby Target store, and the officer escorted them back to the rental.
Upon returning, Goisse "came out of the Master Bedroom, asked what they were doing, and denied knowledge of any hidden cameras."
"While MCPD was present at the Property, another individual walked up the driveway of the Property and explained he was staying in the basement via another Airbnb rental. MCPD then found another hidden camera smoke detector in the basement where this renter was staying. Christopher Goisse then gave consent for the Property to be searched," the lawsuit states.
MCPD apparently found and seized hidden cameras inside a safe at the property, according to the complaint.
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Goisse previously told Fox 5 in 2022 that he did not plant cameras in his Airbnb and suggested that one of his guests may have hidden them in his home. He also told the outlet that he gave police permission to search his home and confiscate his electronics.
Airbnb's guidelines state that owners "should not spy on other people" and cameras "are not allowed" in listings "unless they are previously disclosed and visible." Cameras "are never permitted in private spaces like bathrooms and sleeping areas," the company's guidelines state.
Gates and Capraro eventually searched the internet for hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors and "and discovered the same model of hidden camera smoke detector that Mr. Capraro had pulled from the ceiling of" the Airbnb bedroom and "discovered it had Wi-Fi capability," the lawsuit says.
Goisse "is currently incarcerated after pleading guilty on Oct. 4, 2022, to federal charges of drug diversion and health care fraud," the lawsuit states, but he has not been charged in the Airbnb hidden camera incident.
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