Couple's shock as they discover hidden camera in holiday home

A couple has found a hidden camera in their holiday home, disguised as a smoke detector in the master bedroom of the Airbnb they were renting in Florida.

Derek Starnes, who was holidaying in Longboat Key with his wife, told local news station WFTS that his suspicions were raised when he noticed a small black hole on the side of the smoke detector. When Starnes, who works in technology, took it down to get a better look at the device, he realised it was a hidden camera.

Starnes immediately called the police, who would later arrest the 56-year-old homeowner Wayne Natt, who has been since charged with one count of video voyeurism.

“We did have the opportunity to analyse what was on the SD card and there are a couple of different people on them,” Longboat Key Police Lt. Robert Bourque told WFLA.

Airbnb spokesman Ben Breit said the company was “outraged at the reports of what happened.”

 “As soon as we were made aware, we permanently banned this individual from our community and fully supported the affected guests. Our team has reached out to local law enforcement to aid them with their investigation of the egregious offence and we hope justice is served. We take privacy issues extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy against this behaviour.”

Prior to his arrest, Natt had more than 40 reviews on the home sharing site and had reportedly been opening his house to Airbnb guests for two years.

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