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Parkville man admits to making child porn with special camera

Ruben Lin used special filter, faces prison time
Posted at 11:21 PM, Aug 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 11:08:31-04
It's not something anyone wants to hear-- a sexual predator living in their neighborhood, but that's what residents in a Parkville neighborhood are experiencing.
 
Ruben Lim, 53, told police he made hundreds of videos of underage girls. Police said he used a lens that allowed the camera to see through certain fabrics.
 
"It's of most concern to people in Maryland, he has been using a camera with an infrared lens to take photographs of children for at least 12 years," Maryland US Attorney Rod Rosenstein said. "He understood that what he was doing was not normal conduct.  He's traveling to swim meets not to watch the swimmers but to try to take these photographs of the kids through their clothes."
 
Lim admitted to having a fixation with children and used a camera outfitted with a special lens to take those pictures.
 
"Once he found this camera, with a special lens, that allowed him to see through bathing suits he would travel to swim meets where he would focus on the private areas of children," Rosenstein said.
 

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The news was a scary reality for parents, but also a wake up call about how technology can invade anyone's privacy. Police say Lim also took videos at pools, water parks and beaches focusing on his female subjects' private areas.
 
 
"You have no right to use technology that allows you to invade peoples' privacy particularly when you're targeting young children," said Rosenstein.
 
A 2015 search warrant led police to Lim at his home in a quiet Parkville neighborhood.  There they found cameras, pornographic images of children engaging in sexual acts and hard drives.
 
"We need parents to know the danger that's representative by child porn but this is a new threat," Rosenstein said.
 
A new threat that's not sitting well for those who live here.  One woman who lives in the neighborhood where court documents said Lim lived, spoke with ABC2 but did not want to be identified.
 
"It's quite a shock, I have grandchildren here and this is a very hardworking, blue collar neighborhood."
 
But no neighborhood is safe from a sexual predator.
 
"Everybody faces this threat of having people who are using this sort of technology to literally see through clothes," Rosenstein said.
 
"It is disgusting it's just the most horrific thing that a person can do our children are our treasure," one resident commented.
 
Rosenstein said the technology Lim used is commercially available but would not elaborate on the specific type of camera used.
 
Lim struck a plea for 10 years in federal prison  but that could be rejected by a judge.  If convicted, he also faces intense supervision from parole  officers and must register as a sex offender.
 

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