EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- A former southwestern Illinois police
officer has been sentenced to two years of probation after admitting he
illegally took cellphone videos of women at a tanning salon.
The (Alton) Telegraph reports that 47-year-old Michael
Collins was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to one count of unauthorized
video recording. Prosecutors dropped two other counts.
Madison County prosecutors claimed Collins secretly recorded
different women over a four-day period at a Glen Carbon tanning salon last
April.
Collins had served 15 years with Edwardsville police and was
the senior patrol officer before resigning just days after being charged.
Authorities say the case surfaced when a salon customer
accused Collins of taking pictures over the wall from an adjacent room as she
prepared to tan.