The King County Prosecutor’s Office charged 25-year-old WAVE Aquatics lifeguard Allen Sze on Tuesday with eight counts of voyeurism at Hartman Pool.
The charges stem from the Sept. 7 report of a cell phone found inside the female staff locker room taped to a wall at the pool, located at 17535 N.E. 104th St. Redmond Police Department (RPD) officers arrested Sze that morning while he was there on duty as a lifeguard.
A Woodinville High School girls swim coach called 911 at 6:39 a.m. and reported that a team member located the phone and alerted the coach, according to Becky Range, RPD public information officer, in an earlier report. The team was practicing at the pool at the time.
In court documents, the coach said, “I saw what I thought looked like a phone, picked it up and saw it had been recording for over 14 minutes.”
According to an RPD press release, after interviewing Sze and searching all files on his phone and iPad, the police investigation determined that the phone was only placed in the female staff locker room. In addition, there were nine videos on the phone, with dates ranging from June 30 to Sept. 7, depicting four different females, at least three of which were 16-year-olds, court documents state. Police have no evidence that videos were shared.
On Friday, Range said all the females have been identified and contacted.
After hearing about the charges on Tuesday, WAVE Aquatics manager Tyson Wellock told the Reporter, “It’s really sad. It’s really upsetting. My big concern is for the victims affected by this.”
“Due to the sensitive nature of this case and the fact that all identified victims are minors, police have been very cautious with the identification process. Police conducted this investigation with discretion, but also with investigative diligence to ensure the appropriate type and severity of criminal charges could be recommended,” the release states.
Court documents note that Sze said in an interview with police that he recorded the victims for a “sexual thrill.” Documents add, “The defendant’s crimes invaded the privacy of multiple women and have caused great trauma and concern to them.”
The City of Redmond owns the Hartman Pool building, which is operated and managed by the WAVE Aquatics club swim program. Wellock suspended Sze without pay and trespassed him from the pool at the time of the incident.
The City of Redmond changed all locks at the pool and confirmed that WAVE Aquatics collected Sze’s facility keys.
The pool is host to high school meets and practices and public lap swimming, shallow and deep water aerobics, open swimming and lessons.
In an earlier report, Wellock said they had no documented issues with the suspect. “We do background checks on all our employees, and all employees are required to pass the background checks before they’re hired,” he said.
Wellock and his staff notified parents and swimmers about the incident via email and by posting a notice on Sept. 7.
“I answered a lot of questions from parents and families,” he told the Reporter on Tuesday. He added that with charges filed, there will be more questions to answer.
“We’re working with the police, we’re working with the school district, we’re working with the city,” Wellock said. “We want to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Throughout this investigation, RPD coordinated closely with groups and local schools who utilize the facility. Any pool patrons or residents with remaining questions are encouraged to contact RPD.
Sze’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 17 at the King County Courthouse. He’s not in custody and hasn’t been booked yet, but at the arraignment, the defense attorney could ask the court to address the set bail of $75,000 and Sze could be booked then, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
