The owner of a downtown coffee shop arrested for using a hidden camera to spy on restroom users was sentenced to at least four years in prison Friday. Ed Witkowski, 49, pleaded no contest to multiple charges including using a computer to commit a crime, three counts of capturing/distributing images of an unclothed person, and lying to a police officer. Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Charles Hamlyn sentenced Witkowski to concurrent sentences that will require him to serve at least four years in prison and praised the “bravery and quick thinking” of female employees who gave evidence that led to Witkowski’s arrest.

As previously reported by The Ticker, Witkowksi hid a surveillance camera in an electrical outlet in the women’s restroom at Morsels, switched out the outlet when it was discovered by employees, and lied to the police about replacing it. Police discovered videos of three nude women using the Morsels restroom on Witkowski’s cell phone, one of whom appeared to be under 18. Based on the photos of the suspicious outlet taken by employees, police were able to identify an Ebay retailer who sold identical models of outlets. A search warrant was executed on Witkowski’s Ebay account, which showed he had purchased two of the outlet camera devices.

Witkowski’s Internet search history on his cell phone showed search terms including “how does a hidden camera detector work,” “best spy camera for home,” and “outlet hidden camera.” Receipts and shipping information were also found for the hidden camera purchases, according to the police complaint. Law enforcement also found videos on an SD card “that appeared to be from another hidden camera that was pointed at a shower in a residential bathroom” from an off-site location, the complaint stated, as well as a video of Witkowski exposed and pleasuring himself with an iPad in his hand.

Witkowski pleaded no contest to the criminal charges against him in May. He did so because civil litigation is still pending against him, according to his attorney Michael Naughton, in a lawsuit from a former Morsels employee who alleges she was fired in violation of the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.

Addressing the court Friday, Naughton asked Hamlyn for a sentence for Witkowski in the “middle of the guidelines range.” That would represent a “lengthy local incarceration” instead of prison and a lengthy probation term, according to Naughton. While Naughton said Witkowski had committed a “serious crime” that represented a “violation of the community trust,” he noted Witkowski has no previous criminal history and no history of drug or alcohol abuse. He said Witkowski was “remorseful” about the case and has been “aggressively compliant” with his bond conditions, in addition to experiencing personal ramifications of his actions including going through a divorce and closing Morsels.

Naughton said Witkowski was in counseling and had issues that appeared to stem from his service in the Marines for a decade, including two overseas deployments. Naughton said Witkowski was “taking responsibility” for a series of “absolutely terrible decisions.” Witkowski only gave brief comments to the court on the advice of his attorney due to the pending litigation, but said he was “sorry for everybody that’s been impacted by this” and would become a “better person” no matter what the judge decided.

Grand Traverse County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Attwood pushed back against Naughton’s sentencing request, saying Witkowski “absolutely” deserved prison. Far from a typical surveillance case targeted against a specific victim or victims, “in this case we essentially have an offense against the entirety of Traverse City,” Attwood said. He said his office has been contacted by numerous individuals worried they were captured on video in the Morsels bathroom.

“All we can really tell them is, ‘Yes, you probably were observed. The defense probably saw you in some stage of undress. We can’t say whether he was aroused enough to save your image or save your video,’” Attwood said. “The defendant could see each and every person that used that bathroom. That means women, that means men if they used the bathroom, that means children that used the bathroom. Mothers taking their young daughters in during the peak of summer to use the restroom were surveilled and observed by this individual.”

Attwood said Witkowski appeared to have a “type,” which was young petite women, but that he would’ve had to sort through “countless” images to collect the ones he was seeking. Customers who had an expectation of privacy and were in their “most intimate moments” were victimized by Witkowski’s actions, Attwood said. Witkowski’s actions were “well thought out” and executed through a “long series of events,” he added. The response to such a crime must be “severe,” Attwood argued.

While Hamlyn said he couldn’t give a harsher sentence based on a “large number of potential victims,” he acknowledged many individuals would’ve used the Morsels restroom during the time the camera was known to be active last summer. He was also concerned about the footage taken at the off-site residence, which he said established a pattern of spying behavior. “The sentencing guidelines don’t take into account so many important factors in your case,” he told Witkowski, from the number of people who might have been caught on camera to the fact Witkowski essentially tampered with evidence by removing the camera to the fact he saved videos of underage individuals. Hamlyn was also troubled by Witkowski’s psychological evaluation earlier this year, in which he blamed media for targeting him, said he had installed the Morsels camera to deter drug use and work time theft, and hadn’t intended to take any footage of children.

“You being a small business owner is probably what lead to the nature and extent of that (media) coverage, but it’s also because that business was used specifically to commit these crimes,” he told Witkowski. “It's directly a result of the activities that you engaged in.” Hamlyn said it didn’t make sense why a camera being used to monitor work issues would be installed inside a bathroom instead of outside it – and only in the women’s room. And despite Witkowski’s statement he wasn’t targeting children, one of the only videos recovered he had saved involved a minor, Hamlyn pointed out. He noted the evaluation indicated Witkowski denied any “deviant, illegal, inappropriate, or highly unusual sexual interests.” But “deviant, illegal, inappropriate, and highly unusual is exactly how I would describe what occurred in this case,” Hamlyn continued. He also bristled at the implication that Witkowski’s military history contributed to his crimes, asking where in the Marine Corps values of “honor, courage, and commitment” Witkowski’s behavior fell.

Hamlyn said he believed in rehabilitation and often gives out rehabilitative sentences. “The problem with that, and what I always implore to people, is we have to be honest about what the underlying problem is so that it can be corrected,” he said. Witkowski’s documentation showed he hadn’t been honest about those underlying issues, Hamlyn said. “So how can a rehabilitative sentence be possible if somebody’s not going to be honest about the underlying issues, what caused them, or what actually happened in a particular case?”

Hamlyn sentenced Witkowski to concurrent state prison sentences – meaning they will be served at the same time instead of back-to-back – including 48-84 months for using a computer to commit a crime, 40-60 months for the three counts of capturing/distributing images of an unclothed person, and 18-24 months for lying to a police officer. That means Witkowski will serve at least four years in prison – possibly longer depending on behavior. He received credit from the court for two days already served. Asked for comment following the sentencing, Naughton told The Ticker: “We hope for healing for the community.”