Home Security System Installer Put Secret Cameras in Girls' Bathrooms, Gets Life in Prison

An Oklahoma man who secretly videotaped young girls and teens in their bedrooms and bathrooms for years was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.

Ryan Alden was sentenced after pleading guilty to 28 felonies, including creating child pornography and possession of obscene material of minors, an Oklahoma County District Court official tells PEOPLE.

“If the law allowed me to have you castrated, I would,” Judge Amy Palumbo told Alden, refusing his attorney’s plea to sentence him five to 10 years in prison with probation, KFOR and the Associated Press report.

Outside the courtroom, Alden spoke to reporters.

“I’m truly sorry,” he said, adding that he did not know how many victims there were. When asked if he thought his sentence was deserved, Alden replied, “Probably with everything I did, yes, but I can’t, I don’t know for sure.”

Alden was arrested in October 2018, after a Nichol Hills family and Oklahoma City family found video cameras hidden in the air vents of their children’s bedrooms.

Authorities determined Alden, 39, had hidden the cameras while he worked for a company installing security systems in homes.

“This family did everything right, you know. They had the companies [that] came recommended. They personally knew the individual that placed these cameras inside the home,” Nichols Hills Police Chief Steven Cox said in 2018 of one family who found cameras in their teen daughter’s bedroom, News9 reports.

Investigators subsequently discovered many video recordings of young girls, teens and women on Alden’s computer and cell phone.

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Alden also secretly recorded videos up women’s skirts at restaurants, the gym and church. An officer with the Edmond Police Department testified Alden had enough recordings to fill 12 compact disc spindles.

Some of Alden’s victims still have not yet been identified, prosecutors said Wednesday.