Host who recorded exchange student in bathroom gets 15 years

A New Hampshire man who secretly recorded a teenage exchange student getting in and out of the shower was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, officials said Thursday.

Law enforcement authorities were alerted after the 15-year-old boy notified operators of the exchange student program that he’d discovered a camera hidden inside a device that looked like a pen in a bathroom in the host home.

Matthew Dion, 48, of Bedford, attempted to erase the evidence from a storage card before police executed a search warrant in April 2020, but investigators were able to retrieve photos of the naked teen, officials said.

Acting U.S. Attorney John J. Farley said Dion’s prison sentence sends message that such conduct won’t be tolerated in New Hampshire.

“By placing a hidden camera in a bathroom, the defendant stole the innocence of a young teen and betrayed the trust of the family that had agreed to let this foreign exchange student live in the defendant’s home,” Farley said.

Dion pleaded pleaded guilty in May to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. He also must pay $30,000 in restitution.

Associated Press