Peabody chiropractor accused of hiding camera in restroom

A Massachusetts chiropractor is facing criminal charges after a patient reported finding a hidden camera in a restroom.

Scott Kline, a 44-year-old Midddleton man, is accused of placing the camera in the public bathroom of Back on Track, his chiropractic business in Peabody.

Kline was arraigned Tuesday in Peabody District Court on a charge of photographic an unsuspecting nude person, the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said Wednesday.

A patient called the Peabody Police Department Friday and said he noticed a black plastic coat hook hanging on the wall next to the toilet tank.

"Upon further inspection the patient observed a blue light on the side of the hanger and discovered that it appeared to be a hidden spy camera complete with a lens on the front, USB port, on/off switch and an SD memory card," the district attorney's office said in a statement.

The person who reported the camera showed images recorded on his cellphone to police.

Kline's attorney, Paul Moraski, says the hook authorities mentioned was just that — a hook. But he couldn't explain why there was a camera.

"It was never powered on," said Moraski. "It was never used as a camera, it was just being used as a hook."

When a search warrant was executed at Back on Track, prosecutors say the camera was no longer in the bathroom, but that police found evidence that it had been there, as well as hard drives and SD cards.

"There's no photographs," said Moraski. "There's no video footage whatsoever to support there were any photographs or videos whatsoever that was taken of anybody in that bathroom."

A judge ordered Kline held on $10,000 bail, with conditions that he stay away from the person who reported the camera to police and have no contact with him.

"No comment, but thank you for waiting around," Kline told NBC10 Boston when he left his office Wednesday night. "I had a lot of work to do."

When asked, he went on to say that he denied the allegations.

Kline is due back in court Aug. 29 for a pretrial conference.

"We haven't seen any type of evidence," said longtime patient Alex Schulte. "We don't really know what's going on. That's the frustrating part."

Schulte says she wants the facts out before making judgments.

"I'm a hairdresser, it's tough on our bodies, we're stuck in the same position for hours at a time," said Schulte. "I swear by Scott. He's kept me on my feet."

Patients or others who have more information or believe they may have been a victim in this case are asked to call the Peabody Police Department at 978-538-6300 or 978-531-1212.