Golden Gate man, convicted of filming woman in shower, now faces child porn charges
Jake AllenA Golden Gate man was arrested and charged with 75 counts of possession of child pornography on Tuesday.
Philipas Christos Batsios, 44, was also charged with one count of possession of child pornography with intent to promote and one count of video voyeurism involving a victim younger than 16.
He was previously convicted of secretly recording a woman in her shower. The current investigation is ongoing and more charges may be added as detectives attempt to identify more victims, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives found the lewd images on Batsios’ cell phone which they acquired during Batsios’ mid-July arrest for violating his state probation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Batsios was on probation for a conviction out of Lee County for burglary to an occupied dwelling and video voyeurism after he was caught using his cell phone to video a woman taking a shower in her residence.
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On July 16, detectives executed a search warrant at Batsios’ residence after CCSO received nine cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible transmission of child pornography on a website that hosts pornographic material, according to the sheriff’s office.
One of the images was of a known identified child victim from Indonesia and further investigation by detectives determined the transmissions were occurring at Batsios’ residence, according to the man’s arrest report.
Batsios admitted to visiting websites that featured child pornography and indicated that detectives would find those files on his cell phone, according to the sheriff’s office.
A subsequent review of Batsios’ phone revealed tens of thousands of images of nude children, according to his arrest report.
A preliminary review by detectives identified at least 75 of those images as child pornography which depicted children ranging in age from 2 to 12, according to the sheriff’s office.
Further investigation by detectives also found Batsios was visiting Russian-hosted websites that contained these images of children with page titles in German such as “kids and friends” on a regular basis for years, according to the sheriff’s office.
He was also creating his own video voyeurism videos while out in public such as at grocery stores, gas stations and assisting clients of his pool cleaning business, according to his arrest report.
Detectives said Batsios’ face can be seen in many of the videos and his voice heard while talking to female clients about their pumps/pools while he places the camera under their dresses/skirts while they are distracted, according to the sheriff’s office.
Another video, taken Oct. 9, 2019, was of a young child at a grocery store. Detectives said the child was helping her mother unload their grocery cart. Batsios filmed underneath the girl’s dress and his face can be seen in the video, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives were able to identify the child victim and her family who advised they wished to prosecute Batsios for this crime, according to the man’s arrest report.
Tuesday, detectives arrested Batsios at the Collier County jail, where he has been housed since his July arrest.
Anyone who thinks they may be a victim or who has information is asked to contact the Collier County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number at 239-252-9300, or to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.780.TIPS (8477).