‘I’m afraid to use the restroom.’ Woman testifies in GA ex-chef bathroom recording case

The ex-chef accused of illegally recording people in his Columbus restaurant’s restrooms was called back to court Tuesday for a hearing on new charges from his indictment.

After his May indictment by a Muscogee County grand jury, Dennis Cleveland “Landon” Thompson, 37, who was part-owner of The Animal Farm on 12th Street, now faces a total of 30 counts of unlawful surveillance for illegally recording people in restrooms and six of child sexual exploitation for possessing videos of underage victims.

When Thompson first was arrested on Sept. 28, 2022, police charged him with a total of 23 counts:

• 11 counts of unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance

• Six counts of child sexual exploitation

• Six of illegally installing recording devices.

Attorneys on the case said the police charges and the grand jury indictment no longer match. They explained that some victims the police identified did not want to join in Thompson’s prosecution, and some details of the police charges did not match the evidence.

“They didn’t sync up,” Assistant District Attorney George Lipscomb said of the timing on the recordings.

But prosecutors also found new victims to add to the case, he said.

He said the district attorney’s office created a chart to ensure that each case presented to the grand jury had a victim willing to prosecute, evidence that matches the recording time, and charges that fit the circumstances.

Called back to court

Thompson has been free on bond since Dec. 19. Tuesday’s hearing marked his second court appearance in five days.

He was in court Friday for his arraignment, a formal reading of the charges against him. Two victims’ parents also were in court then, expecting Thompson to be arrested on the new charges he faced. He was not arrested, and allowed to leave afterward.

The parents complained to District Attorney Stacey Jackson, who along with defense attorney William Kendrick decided that instead of calling Thompson back to court right away, or sending deputies to detain him, he would return Tuesday to address the new charges, and determine whether new bonds should be set.

That action allowed any victim named in those charges to address the court, as guaranteed by Georgia’s Crime Victims Bill of Rights. Those testifying included a woman named in the indictment, and the father of another victim.

The woman told Judge Ben Richardson that she did not feel safe while Thompson was free on bond.

“He gets to sit at home, at his house, while I’m afraid to use the restroom,” she said.

The parent complained that Thompson has not been abiding by the conditions of his bond: He has been on Instagram, though Richardson ordered him to stay off social media, and his car has not been at his parents’ home at night in Harris County, where Thompson is supposed to remain during a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.

“The question I have is who’s monitoring if he’s there or not,” the father said.

Kendrick said the parent had no evidence to prove those claims.

Lipscomb said Thompson otherwise has followed the judge’s orders and come to court whenever summoned, so the prosecutor did not feel Thompson had to be jailed again. He asked Richardson to re-emphasize the bond conditions, and the judge allowed Thompson to be released on his own recognizance, meaning the suspect had only to sign some court papers without paying any additional bond money.

Lipscomb said Thompson previously was freed on bonds totaling $96,000.

The allegations

The secret recordings case started with 14 victims and now involves 20, six of them minors ages 5 through 17.

Most of the videos were recorded at the 105 12th St. restaurant, except for three involving a teenage girl videotaped at a house on Columbus’ Sue Mack Drive, where Thompson was living at the time, the indictment says.

Thompson also faces charges in Harris County, allegedly for recording a girl in her teens as she visited his parents’ home there, authorities said.

The Columbus recordings date from July 23 to Sept. 12, 2022, but they’re concentrated in August, with 30 from Aug. 2 to Aug. 31, 2022.

Police began investigating Thompson on Sept. 1, after Animal Farm co-owner Hudson Terrell discovered the videos stored on a restaurant computer and went looking for recording devices, finding them hidden in vents.

Lipscomb last week said the case now may be resolved through a plea or go to trial, likely in the fall. The sentence range for child sexual exploitation is one to 20 years in prison, and the range for unlawful surveillance is one to five years.

Thompson has been banned from The Animal Farm since his arrest, and Terrell said Thompson no longer is associated with the business.