Richmond County employee charged with peeping tom

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By Navideh Forghani nforghani@nbcaugusta.com

A man who's worked more than 20 years for Richmond County is charged with Peeping Tom. Ricky Merriweather of Hephzibah is accused of drilling peepholes in a women's restroom inside the Richmond County Law Enforcement Center while doing his maintenance job.

It's a place where you'd think you'd have some privacy. But walking into the restroom, a woman's instinct told her otherwise.

The woman, who's an investigator with the public defenders office, immediately noticed two holes in the bathroom ceiling on Monday.

“She noticed debris on the floor, looked up and saw two holes in the ceiling. She went out of the restroom and told deputies,” Sgt. Blaise Dresser, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say as they walked into the room that adjoins the restroom, Ricky Merriweather, a maintenance worker was walking out with a ladder. He told investigators he was fixing a leak.

“They went back in and saw no sign of a water leak in the room or the bathroom. By this time, the guy plugged up the holes,” said Dresser.

Investigators say Merriweather confessed to drilling the holes and being able to see people use the restroom. Merriweather worked for the city for more than two decades. Investigators tell NBC Augusta these actions seem completely out of his character.

“Being the type of crime that it was, it can be set off by certain stresses. He told us of some things that he was going through that led up to the Peeping Tom,” said Dresser.

Merriweather is out of jail on bond and is on administrative leave from his maintenance job with Richmond County.

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