DA: Manhasset sleep clinic employee allegedly filmed adults, children in bathrooms

An employee at a Northwell health sleep clinic in Manhasset allegedly spied on adults and children in bathrooms using a hidden camera, and destroyed the video evidence after learning police considered him the prime suspect, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday. 

Sanjai Syamaprasad, 47, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday in Nassau County Court to five counts of unlawful surveillance and tampering with evidence. Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz released Syamaprasad on his own recognizance, prosecutors said.

His defense attorney, Julie Rendel of Manhattan, declined to comment on the case.

Prosecutors say that from the summer of 2023 to spring of 2024, Syamaprasad secreted a hidden camera in dummy smoke detectors affixed to the bathroom walls of the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center, capturing hundreds of videos. He would then allegedly download the images from the cameras at the end of his shift and watch the recordings, sometimes on his work computer, according to prosecutors.

"The allegations against this defendant are sickening and disturbing," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.

Investigators found images of five patients, Donnelly added, including a child.

The hospital network tipped off authorities to the alleged spying, the district attorney said.

Based on their investigation, Nassau County detectives homed in on Syamaprasad, but before they could search his Brooklyn residence, prosecutors said, he destroyed the evidence, tossing the fake smoke detector and smashed memory card into the trash. Detectives found the equipment in a garbage bin behind a CVS pharmacy near Syamaprasad’s home, prosecutors said.

Detectives raided his apartment on April 25 and found three laptops, a memory card reader and cellphones.

"Knowing that law enforcement was closing in, the defendant allegedly tried to cover his tracks, breaking up and disposing of the memory card to destroy any evidence of the recordings," Donnelly said in the statement. "We all expect professionals working in medical care to respect and value patient privacy. When they do not, and their actions are criminal, my office will pursue prosecution."

Syamaprasad could serve up to four years behind bars if convicted. He’s due back in court on June 12.