ASOTIN, WA – A former nurse at Tri-State Health (formerly Tri-State Hospital) was arraigned Monday in Asotin County on a charge of Voyeurism after he allegedly placed a cell phone in a coed locker room multiple times. The case stems from an early November investigation into 40-year-old John Edward Hulsey, whose iPhone was allegedly discovered in a Day Surgery area locker while in the “record” mode.
A Summons was issued by the Asotin County Superior Court on December 27th for one charge of Voyeurism in the First Degree. His next court date is February 5th.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit, a Clarkston Police Officer responded to the hospital at around 11:30 a.m. on November 3rd after a female nurse found the phone. She had arrived at work at around 9:00 a.m. and went into the shared locker room. She changed her clothing and then began moving her personal belongings to a new locker.
“[The nurse] accidentally opened the locker one spot above her new locker. [She] noticed a phone in a locker and knew that this locker belonged to a nurse who has been on maternity leave,” the affidavit says. “[She] initially believed that someone had accidentally dropped their phone in there, so she grabbed it out. When she pulled the phone out, she noticed right away that it was in video mode.”
The woman reportedly told the officer that even though the phone was locked, she was able to rewind the video to the beginning.
“[She] stated that the video shows another nurse she works with, John Hulsey, placing the phone into the locker, then backing up, and then checking the footage to see the area it records. [The nurse] saw herself on the video and told me that it showed from about the waist to the top of her shoulders. [She] recognized herself changing in the video,” the document says.
The nurse removed the phone from the locker and took it to her immediate supervisor to inform him what she had discovered, according to the affidavit.
“Shortly after, John Hulsey knocked and entered the supervisor’s office. John asked if he could have his phone and was told not at this time. {Another employee] asked John if he knew what was going on and he said that he just told [a female] (his girlfriend who is also a nurse in the same department) so that she would hear it from him,” the affidavit says, adding that the supervisor described John as pale and having bloodshot eyes.
Hulsey then reportedly came back to the office a second time and was told that they would come to find him when they were done with their Zoom call.
“John came back for the third time and they had him come into the office. [An employee] asked John why he was recording, and John told them “I am just all messed up in the head.” [The supervisor] asked if he had done this before and he told them “One other time.” John was told that he could no longer be at Tri-State, and he needed to leave. John said he couldn’t leave as he has a gun at home,” according to the affidavit.
One of the employees encouraged Hulsey to call his therapist; she eventually took him to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston “for mental health,” the document says.
The Clarkston officer, along with a detective from the Lewiston Police Department, responded to that hospital to interview Hulsey.
“John said his phone was found in a locker in a bathroom. He talked to his boss and instantly felt not great. I asked John if there was a specific reason he was recording in the locker room. John told me he told himself that he shouldn’t be recording but did it anyways. John said he has been in therapy for approximately 3 years,” the affidavit says. “John told me that this wasn’t a misunderstanding and that he [has] recorded in the locker room maybe 5 times in the past.”
“I asked John if the thrill of possibly getting caught played a factor in his actions. John told me that he self-sabotages and the happier he gets he does something to bring him back down,” the document adds. “John clarified that the room is a co-ed bathroom/locker room area. John admitted that he was the one who put his phone in the locker and intentionally started the recording. John told me that he specifically put it in the locker of the nurse who was on Maternity leave.”
The Lewiston detective asked for permission to search John’s phone, the document says.
“A quick glance through the photos, [and the] app did not show any videos from today. John told us that he deleted the video and also deleted it from his deleted folder. John told me that he normally deletes the videos right away and doesn’t stockpile them or store them on another hard drive,” according to the affidavit.
Hulsey’s phone was seized as evidence after he was allowed to write down any contact numbers he would need, the document says.
