‘I was being recorded’: Victim speaks out after discovering hidden phone in bathroom

'There’s a phone staring at me': Hidden camera horror

Melanie Dean discovered a cell phone hidden in her bathroom, leading to the arrest of her boyfriend's stepbrother for unlawful surveillance.

CARROLLTON, Ga. - For the first time, a 20-year-old woman is speaking publicly about how she discovered a hidden camera in her bathroom.

Arrest of Chris Stieglitz

What we know:

Melanie Dean said she was living with her boyfriend’s family at the time. The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Chris Stieglitz, also lived in the home. Dean said Stieglitz is the stepbrother of Dean’s boyfriend. Carroll County has charged the man with unlawful surveillance.

Christopher Stieglitz (Carroll County Sheriff's Office)

Phone ‘aiming at the toilet’

What they're saying:

Dean said she walked into the bathroom, sat down, and noticed a cellphone positioned under a table.

"The phone was flipped upside down. It was aiming at the toilet and the shower," she said.

Melanie Dean, who is speaking out after discovering a hidden cellphone recording her in a bathroom, stands outside the Carroll County Courthouse where suspect Christopher Stieglitz faces charges of unlawful surveillance on March 4, 2026. (FOX 5 Atlan

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Dean yelled for help and called her boyfriend into the room. She said he recorded video of the phone as it continued recording.

"He was videoing my phone of the phone videoing me for six minutes," she said.

Dean said she began to question past interactions, recalling moments she now considers suspicious.

Evidence shows the cellphone Melanie Dean discovered hidden and recording under a bathroom table, which led to the arrest of Christopher Stieglitz on charges of unlawful surveillance in Carroll County on March 4, 2026. (Melanie Dean)

"As soon as I would get out of the shower, he’d go in there and then come right back out. I’d say that was kind of odd," she said. "I wonder how many times this has happened?"

‘I have to look for cameras’

Dig deeper:

Court records show Stieglitz previously faced charges in 2016 in a voyeurism-related incident investigated by Carrollton police at a Target store. His probation in that case ended in 2021.

"He should be punished for that. That’s not something that should be lightly taken. He should do his time. He needs therapy," Dean said.

Melanie Dean, who is speaking out after discovering a hidden cellphone recording her in a bathroom, stands outside the Carroll County Courthouse where suspect Christopher Stieglitz faces charges of unlawful surveillance on March 4, 2026. (FOX 5 Atlan

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Dean said the incident had changed her daily life.

"It’s hard. I don’t want to use the bathroom. I have to look for cameras, and that shouldn’t be a thing. Girls should not be afraid to use the bathroom, take showers, that should not be a problem," she said.