Sleep center worker who recorded patients, coworkers gets jail time despite plea deal
MANHASSET, Long Island (WABC) -- The sleep center worker who pleaded guilty in July to secretly recording co-workers and patients in the bathroom was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail and five years of probation.
Sanjai Syamaprasad, a former employee of the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center, initially was to be sentenced to probation and ordered to register as a sex offender.
But after hearing statements from two victims last week, Judge Meryl Berkowitz indicated she was considering adding jail time.
"It's me, it's my son. He's a minor. This is something that can haunt us for the rest of our lives," one victim said.
Syamaprasad installed hidden cameras in bathrooms and changing rooms in two facilities in Great Neck.
"It's devastating. And I've personally spoken to probably 500 victims, and I can tell you their lives have been changed by this," Class Action Attorney Joel Rubenstein said.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said that between at least July 2023 and April 2024, the cameras captured recordings of approximately thousands of individuals while they were using the bathrooms.
"Sanjai Syamaprasad is a creep, and for his truly nauseating behavior and violation of patients' privacy rights, he deserved far more time behind bars," said DA Donnelly. "Night after night this purported medical professional preyed on innocent patients through a spy camera lens, taking sick pleasure in exposing them - and he did it for nearly a year. Sanjai Syamaprasad exploited these victims at their most vulnerable and he stole from them the security they are entitled to when seeking medical care. Now, he will learn what it feels like to be watched, when correction officers are patrolling past his cell for the next six months."
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