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Former Denver Fire lieutenant charged after accusations he secretly filmed female coworker

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DENVER – A former Denver Fire Department lieutenant was formally charged Thursday with one felony and a misdemeanor after he was arrested last week and accused of putting a hidden camera inside the room of a female co-worker.

Daniel Flesner, 47, faces one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class 6 felony, and one count of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, a class 1 misdemeanor.

He was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion of the same charges.

According to an affidavit for his arrest, Flesner had secretly put the hidden camera in the other firefighter’s sleeping room, with the lens facing the changing area.

The camera was discovered and reported to superiors, which included Flesner at the time. After they were told, Flesner allegedly tampered with the camera.

Police were called to Denver Fire House 9 in the early morning hours of March 31 after the camera was discovered. The victim told police that she “had a feeling that someone was recording her” after she heard what she thought was playback of the room.

She began to search the room and found the recording device, which was motion-activated, according to the affidavit.

After Flesner was told about the camera, the victim was told “it would be okay to take a day before she decided what she was going to do about the device being in her room,” the documents state.

The device was also brought to Flesner, who would not let others view the camera’s SD card. The affidavit says that Flesner tampered with the SD card after that.

The victim later told officers that Flesner had admitted to placing the camera in the woman’s room but said it was meant to be a joke and a prank. A forensic search of the SD card showed a video of the victim entering the room to change and that it contained deleted files as well, according to the affidavit.

Flesner was placed on administrative leave and retired from the department two days later. He was arrested several days later.

Flesner is next due in court for his second advisement on April 22.