Man charged in prior ‘peeping Tom’ cases accused of secretly recording young girl in Bristol

A Bristol man charged in voyeurism cases in Canton and Wallingford has now been accused of secretly recording an underage girl when she visited his home.

Craige Stephens, 42, was arrested by the Bristol Police Department last week on one count each of voyeurism and criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition.

The charges stem from a search of both Stephens’ cellphone and his Bristol home in June 2022, when he resided on Rhoda Lane, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Videos on his phone showed a girl who appeared between 12 and 17 years old “in various stages of undress” in what authorities could initially only determine was a second-floor bedroom, the affidavit said.

“The female appears to have no idea that she is being recorded,” Bristol police wrote in the affidavit.

With the help of the Connecticut State Police Forensic Unit, investigators were able to determine the video was taken from Stephens’ Rhoda Lane home in Bristol, the affidavit said. Stephens was able to identify the girl before Bristol investigators spoke to her mother. The affidavit indicates Stephens was known to the mother, though a redacted version of the document does not elaborate on how they know one another.

Investigators seized Stephens’ cellphone following a peeping Tom incident in Canton in October 2021, when police received the report of a male peering into someone’s window while masturbating, according to the affidavit. Stephens was taken into custody following a brief foot chase and was charged with voyeurism, public indecency and third-degree criminal trespassing. Those charges are still pending in Hartford Superior Court.

During the Canton investigation, authorities used a search warrant to examine Stephens’ cellphone, finding the videos taken of the juvenile girl in Bristol.

Bristol police searched Stephens’ home when he resided on Rhoda Lane, finding the bedroom where the young girl had been secretly recorded, as well as ammunition in a locked safe, the affidavit said. Police noted that Stephens has been barred from having guns or ammunition following a felony conviction on charges of burglary and larceny in 2001, the affidavit said.

Stephens also has a pending case stemming from an arrest in Wallingford in January 2022, following police receiving “numerous reports of a peeping Tom in town looking into people’s windows,” according to the Wallingford Police Department. He faces charges of third-degree criminal trespassing, voyeurism and disorderly conduct in that case, which is pending in Hartford Superior Court.

Following his arrest last week by Bristol police, Stephens was freed on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on June 7 on the most recent charges.