Top New Zealand official on trial over hidden camera in bathroom of embassy in US

A trial began this week for a former New Zealand military official accused of placing a hidden camera in the bathroom at the country’s embassy in Washington, D.C.

Alfred Keating, a former New Zealand naval commodore who was once the top-ranked official at the embassy, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to make an intimate visual recording of another person, according to the BBC.

{mosads}The camera was found in a unisex bathroom at the embassy in 2017, where about 60 people worked at the time.

New Zealand investigators found 20 existing files and more than 700 deleted files on the camera’s memory card, the BBC reported.

Keating’s DNA was found to match DNA discovered on the SD card of the camera, which was allegedly in place for several months, according to CNN.

Keating faces a prison sentence of up to a year and a half if convicted in Auckland District Court.