WOODLAND — A former Woodland church musician pleaded not guilty in Yolo Superior Court on Friday to allegations that he secretly filmed women and girls in the church’s bathroom.
Stephen William Masalta, 23, is charged with eavesdropping, a felony, and misdemeanor count of developing obscene matter. He is due back in court June 19 for a preliminary hearing, a court proceeding where a judge determines whether there is sufficient evidence for a case to proceed to trial.
Woodland police arrested Masalta on April 22 after a member of the New Life Community Church on Walnut Street in Woodland discovered a cell phone concealed inside a tissue box in the women’s restroom.
The phone, which was traced to Masalta, contained recordings of girls and women using the bathroom over a two-hour time frame, police said. A subsequent search of Masalta’s Sacramento apartment reportedly revealed multiple electronic storage devices with similar footage dating back about four months.
Police said they identified 20 alleged victims of the recordings, their ages ranging from 4 to 60. Seven of them were juveniles.
Currently free on $20,000 bail, Masalta was allowed to remain out of custody following his arraignment Friday, but visiting Judge Stephen Mock ordered that he be subject to search and instructed him to refrain from possessing child pornography, either downloaded “or self-created,” he said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene