'Peeping landlord' sentenced to 4-10 years

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - May 7, 2010

Thomas Daley was sentenced to four to 10 years in Montgomery County Court on Friday.

"I am just so sorry," he said moments before the sentencing.

His victims aren't buying it. They think the Peeping Tom landlord should have received a much stiffer sentence.

"Personally, I think the sentencing so should be longer, but…justice is being served as the judge called it," victim Tina Colonese said, and added that Daley took away her dignity and self worth.

For 15 years Daley videotaped his victims using hidden cameras.

They were installed in a dozen apartments in five buildings he owned in Norristown.

Daley previously pleaded guilty to 30 counts of invasion of privacy, and prosecutors said for 15 years, he secretly videotaped 34 of his tenants.

He faced as much as 151 years in prison.

Action News talked to one of the victims when cameras were found in September 2008. One of the cameras was concealed in the light fixture of a ceiling fan over her bed.

It was invisible to the naked eye; the tiny lens was embedded in a screw and hooked up to the camera unit inside the fixture.

Another was in the towel bar in her bathroom. One tiny screw in the bracket was actually a lens and the camera unit was embedded in the wall.

A psychologist who examined Daley says he has a rare disorder that made him a virtual hermit.

Daley told the judge his videotapes were his substitute for reality and apologized for treating his victims like characters in a novel instead of real people.

Daley has sold most of his properties and set aside $500,000 for his victims. But, as the judge said, money won't heal the psychological damage they've suffered.

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