SLED charges ex-Airbnb operator after hidden camera found in Aiken rental units

A 67-year-old former operator of short-term rental Airbnb units in Aiken County has been arrested by State Law Enforcement Division agents on a voyeurism charge after police said he secretly videoed a woman in a bedroom.

Three civil lawsuits filed earlier in Aiken County against the rental operator, Rhett Riviere, allege he had spy cameras in rental unit rooms and violated the privacy of the women. Those lawsuits are still pending, according to Aiken County court records.

In Aiken Thursday, Riviere was released on a $5,000 recognizance bond on the criminal charge, meaning he posted no money but pledged to show up at future court appearances or forfeit $5,000.

One of the conditions of the bond was that Riviere “shall not market or rent any property via the Internet or sites like Airbnb,” according to a bail proceeding document.

A spokesman for Airbnb said Thursday that Riviere’s rental units have been removed from the company’s online listings since 2019, when the incidents are alleged to have happened.

The spokesman said company policy requires hosts to “disclose all security cameras and other recording devices” and “concealed recording devices (such as hidden security cameras) are never permitted.”

Airbnb, headquartered in San Francisco, is the world’s largest online alternative accommodations platform, advertising some 4 million properties in more than 200 countries, according to a Morningstar investment report. The company brings together people who want to rent their property short-term with travelers and facilitates payments.

The spokesman said that Riviere’s short-term rentals weren’t just advertised on Airbnb but on other Internet platforms as well.

A conviction of first offense voyeurism carries up to three years in prison and a maximum $500 fine.

Under the statute, voyeurism is defined as an act when someone spies on or videos another person “without that person’s knowledge and consent, while the person is in a place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

A SLED statement said the investigation was requested by the Aiken Department of Public Safety, and Riviere was booked at the Aiken County Detention Center.

The case will be prosecuted by the 2nd Circuit Solicitor’s Office, which is headed by elected Solicitor Bill Weeks.

A warrant provided by SLED said, between May 17, 2019, and May 18, 2019, Riviere “knowingly video recorded or filmed another person” without the victim’s knowledge or consent while the victim was in a bedroom of the rental house.

“This act was done for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person,” the warrant said.

Last month, The State reported that three women who stayed in Riviere’s Airbnb’s had separately sued him in civil court for invasion of privacy and other charges. The events allegedly took place on two separate occasions, in mid-May 2019, and in July 2019.

Two rental unit properties associated with Airbnb and operated by Riviere are the subjects of the civil lawsuits.

Those civil cases grew out of a SLED investigation in which SLED, by means that the agency has not disclosed, came into possession of secret videos made at the Airbnbs and showed to the women.

The women confirmed to SLED agents that they were the people in the videos, and they did not know they were being videoed. Based on their viewing of the videos, the women then sued Riviere.

The lawsuits allege that no cameras were visible in the rooms.

“Plaintiff and her friends did not consent to being recorded in any manner and were unaware that a video camera was located on the property,” one recently-filed lawsuit in Aiken County state court alleges.

In early May, Riviere told a reporter with The State the allegations were a “miscommunication” and the cameras weren’t meant to spy.

Riviere said the camera system was for security, not for surveillance before telling a reporter he was late for a meeting and drove off.

The criminal charge against Riviere concerns only one property — a one-story cottage with a front porch looking out on Third Avenue in Aiken. That cottage was sold last year to a new owner, according to Aiken County property records.

The other Airbnb unit was on a farm in the Aiken area, according to a lawsuit, which did not give a precise address.

One woman’s lawsuit — which also is the subject of the criminal charge — said she has been “extremely upset about being secretly recorded and is concerned nude images and videos of her undressing may have been shared and/or could make their way on to the Internet.”

John Harte, Riviere’s lawyer, said in an interview after Thursday’s hearing that no videos were posted on the Internet.

“I can tell you there was no dissemination, no publication of these (videos) at all,” said Harte, an Aiken attorney and former family court judge.

Harte, who is representing Riviere with Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch, also said Riviere’s side of the matter has yet to be told.

“There are always two sides to a story. In due course, the facts will all come out,” he said.

Harte didn’t downplay the seriousness of the matter, but said, “my client, myself, and my co-counsel, Joe McCulloch, we all regret the circumstances, and we are sensitive to the concerns of the people involved.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 10:02 AM.