BARTOW, FL — A shocking discovery inside a women’s restroom at a Polk County Tax Collector’s Office IT building led to a video voyeurism investigation and the search for a Lakeland man who was later found dead at Colt Creek State Park, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The body of Sean Michael Krause, 60, of Lakeland, was discovered by Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies at approximately 8:28 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, in a wooded area of the park. The Sheriff’s Office said Krause apparently took his own life, though the Medical Examiner’s Office will make the official determination.
The investigation began Monday after an employee discovered a small hidden camera inside the women’s restroom at the Tax Collector’s Information Technology building in Bartow, a separate employee-only facility.
According to PCSO, the camera had been concealed inside a disposable toilet seat cover holder box. Detectives analyzed the device and its SD card and said video showed a white man with a long beard placing the camera inside the restroom. Tax Collector’s Office employees identified the man as Krause, who worked as an IT manager.
Investigators said the device contained multiple recordings showing at least three women who were recorded without their knowledge.
Deputies later went to Krause’s Lakeland home, where a witness told investigators that Krause had admitted to secretly recording employees using the restroom. Deputies said Krause changed his shirt, took some medication, left his cellphone behind and departed the home.
The search eventually led deputies to Colt Creek State Park. At approximately 8:25 p.m. Monday, a park ranger located a vehicle matching the one deputies were searching for. Investigators said a small notebook containing a detailed suicide note was found inside.
Deputies searched the park before locating Krause’s body Tuesday morning.
The Sheriff’s Office said Krause would have been arrested and charged with multiple felony counts of digital video voyeurism had he survived.
“Digital voyeurism is a serious crime,” Sheriff Grady Judd said, adding that the investigation remains ongoing while authorities await findings from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
SOURCE: POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
