JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man has been arrested after multiple recording devices were found inside a woman’s home. 

38-year-old John William Torrence is accused of recording two people inside of a home where he had been doing some work.

According to the arrest report obtained by First Coast News, Torrence left his cell phone at the home. One of the victims looked through the phone and found two active recordings of her home happening through the ‘HomeEye’ app.

Investigators with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrived at the victim’s home on Feb. 25, 2025. They found a camera hidden inside a DVD player in the living room. They also found a camera hidden on the ceiling fan in the bedroom. That camera was angled at mirrors that reflected the victim’s bed and a power cord for the camera ran up through the attic.

First Coast News Crime and Safety Analyst Mark Baughman said these cameras are often difficult to spot.

“Usually, it’s like a small opening, a pinhole, or they may put something in there that’s pretty innocuous, and the person doesn’t even pay attention to it for a while, but they’ll stick it behind a plant, they’ll do things like that,” Baughman explained.

The victim told JSO this is not the first time the suspect placed cameras in her home. She confronted Torrence the first time, but never reported him because she was afraid he would retaliate. The arrest report detailed statements Torrence previously made to the victim such as, “If I can’t have you, nobody can.”

Officers on scene had the victim text Torrence to come to her house and pick up his phone, but when he got close to the home he noticed the JSO car and kept driving. According to the arrest report, he ran a stop sign and JSO was able to pull him over for a traffic violation. He was taken into custody.

Torrence told JSO he did some work in the victim’s attic sometime between October and December of  2024. He said another man helped him with the work, although that man told police he only helped Torrence for a little while.

Torrence was arrested on Feb. 25th, 2025. He faces two counts of digital voyeurism and is not allowed to have contact with the victim. 

Baughman added these situations happen more than people think. He recommends being at home when someone is there working. He also said it is a good idea to check the work that was done to ensure nothing is out of place. Baughman said the first line of defense is vetting anyone who comes into your home to do work.

“You want to know everything you can about anybody you’re letting in your house to do any type of work like that, especially work that’s in a crawl space or in an attic or in a room or some fixed place where they can put something to listen or look at video,” Baughman said.