Waterford — The arrest warrant affidavit for Keith Hancock, 53, an ex-employee of Atlantic Broadband, alleges that he recorded 10 victims in neighboring homes and more in his own residence.

He has admitted to two of the incidents, the affidavit said.

Hancock, of 6 Overlook Drive, was charged on a warrant Tuesday with eight counts of voyeurism and three counts of third-degree criminal trespass. He was released on a $100,000 bond and is due in the Geographical Area 10 court in New London on Feb. 23, according to police.

Waterford police began investigating Oct. 7, responding at 10:40 p.m. to a report of a person in the backyard of a residence. One of the residents reported arriving home that night and letting his dog out into the backyard, the warrant affidavit said. Once the dog began to bark, the resident went outside with a flashlight and observed someone fleeing from his yard.

The resident located a pair of binoculars and a small, black Canon camcorder behind a tree in his backyard, police said in the affidavit. Officers seized these items as evidence. The following morning, police collected other suspicious items the resident found, including a portable chair and two posts on the other side of the stone wall that separates his property from the neighbor’s.

Police reviewed the SD card in the camcorder and found video footage of another home, focusing on an upstairs window, the affidavit said. Police identified the home and went to the residence to investigate. Based on the review of the camcorder video, whoever took the video had to be standing in front of, or in the wooded area directly across the street from, the second residence.

According to the warrant affidavit, police noticed a camera mounted inside a window of the house across the street from the second residence.

Police approached Hancock, the owner of the residence across the street from the second residence, who claimed he was unsure if footage from the security camera police inquired about could be downloaded for review. He claimed he was on a walk with his dog the previous night near the first residence and that two camcorders had been taken from his work car, along with a pair of binoculars and glasses.

After eventually admitting to taking videos of the two residences, police said, Hancock willingly went to the police station for an interview. He stated that on Oct. 7, he had set up a camcorder in the wooded area on his property, retrieved the camera, went for a walk with his dog and went behind the first residence, where he eventually fled and left behind all the items collected by police. 

He also admitted to being to the first residence on three occasions within the prior week and observed the occupants using his binoculars, police said. When describing how he chose the house, Hancock said he saw “the lights on behind the house” and then stated, “I don’t know, you kind of get a rush, I don’t know it’s kind of an excitement.”

Hancock agreed to allow police to conduct a search of his residence. Multiple items were seized, including a laptop that he reportedly used for work. Police told Hancock to open his laptop and uncovered a video, which showed a woman seemingly in the process of dressing or undressing.

A detective from Groton police forensically examined the seized items but was unable to decrypt Hancock’s work laptop. The IT director for Hancock’s employer came to the department on Dec. 6 and assisted with decrypting the laptop. Police said they found videos and photos on the device.

A LinkedIn account with Hancock’s name says he was employed at Atlantic Broadband for more than 30 years as director of technical operations. A spokesperson from Atlantic Broadband, now renamed Breezeline, said Hancock is “no longer employed with the company and the matter is unrelated to prior work with the company.” The spokesperson declined to comment further.

Police said they also uncovered a video of a woman, unclothed from the waist down, going to the bathroom. Behind the toilet, police saw a decorative sign that read “Hello Lovely” among other decorations. When officers conducted a search of Hancock’s house online, a website showed a recent real estate listing with several pictures. Among them was a photo of the bathroom with the same sign hanging on the wall behind the toilet.

After receiving a search warrant, police entered Hancock’s home and located the bathroom with the described decor. Police said they found a hole in the base of the cabinet across from the toilet, in which they suspect Hancock would record video from the basement.

According to the warrant affidavit, there were more than 10 videos of victims using the toilet below the “Hello Lovely” sign. Due to the camera angles in these videos, police could not identify these victims and it was unclear how many there were.

With the collected evidence, police determined Hancock is suspected of recording 10 victims from outside of their homes; six of the victims were in various stages of undressing and two were juveniles. Hancock also is suspected of trespassing on properties on Gallup Lane and Wiernes Court in the process of recording videos.

Police were able to identify eight of the 10 victims, all of whom provided statements requesting prosecution of the person responsible for these crimes.

Day Staff Writer Kimberly Drelich contributed to this report.

j.vazquez@theday.com