NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man is charged after police say he admitted to recording women in a changing room at the Green Hills YMCA.
One of his victims caught him in the act while she was changing, but he later admitted he had done this before and there are other victims out there.
His name is Wilson Silva Garcia. His arrest report said back on December 18, a woman changing her clothes in a private changing room saw Garcia place a black cell phone over the stall and record her.
She said she was nude from the waist down. She finished dressing quickly and confronted him. She said Garcia deleted the picture and denied taking any picture or video of her.
The Green Hills Y staff confronted him and canceled his membership.
On Monday, police said Garcia went back to the Y to apologize to management and asked to apologize to his victims.
He admitted the photos were for his personal pleasure and that he had done this multiple times over the last 3 to 4 months, so there are a number of other victims.
The Y provided the following statement:
Upon identification of Wilson D. Silva Garcia as the suspect believed to be utilizing a mobile phone to record video in a changing stall at our Green Hills YMCA, we immediately terminated his membership and quickly notified police. We are cooperating fully with their investigation, including reviewing and sharing any video footage that might be helpful to the investigation or indicate any other incidents of which we might be unaware. The safety and privacy of our members is our top priority, and we will not tolerate behavior, in any of our spaces, that violates our Member Code of Conduct.
We understand police have arrested Mr. Silva Garcia, and we will continue to support them in any efforts related to their investigation or Mr. Silva Garcia’s prosecution. We have several safety protocols in place to prevent, to the extent we can, incidents like this. They include regular facility walk-throughs, required background checks for all members through the national sex offender registry, use of multiple security cameras and standard operating procedures around reporting suspicious behavior so staff can act quickly to address any situations. While it is impossible to anticipate with certainty every circumstance in which incidents like this might occur, these procedures helped us turn the matter over to MNPD and identify and remove the member in question immediately upon discovery.
Credit also goes to the victim for reporting the incident quickly, and for courageously following “if you see something, say something” guidance. We are constantly evaluating our built environments to mitigate risks, and we are already making some modifications in the space where this alleged incident took place
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
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