DA: Wantagh man secretly recorded women at tanning salons in Levittown and Seaford

A Wantagh man who prosecutors say secretly recorded women undressing at tanning salons is now facing 20 felony charges following a grand jury's recent indictment.

Jake Gabler-Colotti, 22, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Nassau County Court to unlawful surveillance charges that the Nassau district attorney's office has alleged are connected to 10 incidents at Beach Bum Tanning locations in Levittown and Seaford over two years.

"The allegations themselves are creepy and disturbing," Executive Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick said after court. "…The district attorney takes these cases seriously because no one should feel like they have to do an electronic sweep in any public bathroom or a tanning salon."

Prosecutors alleged Gabler-Colotti recorded videos of nine women, including one of the same victims twice, while they were disrobing to get into a tanning bed. He hung a device over the short wall separating tanning rooms to capture the recordings, which were from about two to eight minutes long, according to authorities.

They don't believe any of the videos were shared or streamed.

Gabler-Colotti's indictment followed his March 12 arrest, when a Levittown salon customer allegedly caught him, a fellow customer, videotaping her while she was undressing in the room next to his. Then a second customer came forward with an accusation, police said previously.

The defendant posted a video of himself on Instagram "where he declared himself to be a pervert and showed his mugshot" after his initial district court arraignment, McCormick said, recapping some of what Assistant District Attorney Matthew Perry said during Thursday's proceeding.

Gabler-Colotti only faced two unlawful surveillance charges after his initial arrest, but prosecutors said the investigation continued and other alleged victims were discovered.

Perry argued Thursday for $50,000 bail for Gabler-Colotti.

But State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald kept the defendant's bail at $10,000, after defense attorney Cornell Bouse said his client had come to court as ordered and that "a just bail amount" already had been set.

The lawyer told the judge that his client's Instagram post that the district attorney's office referenced in court was done "out of anguish and remorse."

Bouse added that his client had been in counseling, while adding: "He shows nothing but remorse for this. He wishes this had never happened. He's beating himself up more than the system."

Gabler-Colotti put on Ray-Ban sunglasses before leaving the courtroom and then ignored a request for comment while leaving the building with his family and Bouse — who declined to comment.