Sex offender denies surveillance charge

A registered sex offender from Mastic Beach who described himself as a photographer pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with setting up a hidden camera to videotape swimsuit models getting undressed before a fashion show in Southampton.

Robert Liguori, 51, is charged with eight counts of second-degree unlawful surveillance. On Wednesday, Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn ordered him held on bail of $30,000 cash.

Southampton Village police arrested Liguori last month. He is accused of putting a live video camera in a dressing room used by models at a show on July 12.

An intern working at the event for swimwear designer Lu Berry of Southampton found the camera on a shelf in the corner of the changing room, said Robert Clifford, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office. Police seized the recording, which was not distributed or copied, Clifford said.

Berry told officers Liguori introduced himself to her saying he was an artist and photographer, Clifford said.

Liguori was convicted in 2000 of federal child pornography charges.