Garner hidden-camera case ends with guilty plea on felony charges

A Garner house still under construction became a hidden-camera trap after investigators found devices concealed inside outlets, turning an ordinary home sale into a privacy and child-exploitation case that ended with a felony plea from Raleigh resident Andrew Charles Belter, 34.

Garner police said the cameras were discovered in August 2025 in a home that was under contract to be purchased by the eventual victim. Belter was taken into custody by the Garner Police Department on Sept. 11, 2025. Court records later tied the case to a separate child-pornography investigation, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation took him into custody on related charges about a week after the first arrest. Earlier reporting said Belter ultimately faced 15 child-sexual-exploitation charges in addition to the peeping case.

On April 28, Belter pleaded guilty to felony secret peeping, felony breaking and entering, misdemeanor stalking and nine counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Under North Carolina law, secret peeping becomes a felony when a device is used to create an image for sexual gratification. Second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor covers recording or duplicating material showing a minor engaged in sexual activity.

The sentencing range reflected the different crimes. The hidden-camera offenses carried a minimum of six months and a maximum of one year and five months, while the child-exploitation counts carried a minimum of one year and eight months and a maximum of seven years. Belter was also ordered to register as a sex offender, turn over any devices containing child pornography, stay away from the victim in the hidden-camera case, participate in the Sex Offender Accountability and Responsibility program, undergo a mental-health assessment, comply with treatment and pay restitution. Court records say he began serving his sentence on May 20.

For Wake County homeowners, builders and buyers, the case highlights how exposed a property can be before the walls are even finished. A house under construction can have multiple workers, subcontractors and inspectors moving through it, and the outlets and unfinished openings that make a site easier to build can also make it easier to hide a camera. The legal fallout here also shows how one privacy violation can widen fast once investigators examine digital evidence, linking a construction-site intrusion to child-exploitation material and triggering mandatory sex-offender registration under state law.