Man allegedly watched, recorded female roommate secretly

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A Valley man who is in the country illegally has been arrested, accused of a chilling scheme to secretly watch and record his female roommate.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Joel Flores, reportedly admitted he had been watching live and recorded footage of the roommate, who is a mother, for over a year. Flores told police he installed the cameras before the family moved in, and revealed what he was doing through some disturbing text messages.

"It's horrifying," said Cheryl Mooney, who lives next door to Flores. "It really is. I mean, you know never know about people. You can't judge a book by the cover, like they say."

According to court documents, the victim was undressed in her bedroom last Wednesday when she received several messages from Flores. Those messages suggested that Flores was "watching her" in the room. The victim then talked to her eight-year-old daughter, who pointed out a camera that was build into the closet door frame.

The daughter reportedly thought her mother had installed it to watch her.

The victim reportedly confronted Flores, who admitted he was recording her on three bedroom cameras, and one in the living room. When the suspect called police, Flores confessed again, and said he had been watching live and recorded footage of the victim, several times a day.

"It's bad enough you do things to women, you know, to grown adults," said Mooney.

Flores is reportedly in ICE custody.