GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A Grand Junction chiropractor will face charges after he allegedly hid a camera in a changing room in his office and was recording patients, an arrest affidavit says.
Todd Norman Mitchell, 55, a chiropractor at Mitchell Chiropractic, was arrested Aug. 4 on suspicion of unlawful sexual contact, invasion of privacy and tampering with physical evidence.
The investigation came to light after a female patient called dispatch at 3:23 p.m. Aug. 4 and reported that she found a camera recording her in the exam room of the chiropractic office she was in.
According to the arrest affidavit, the patient noticed a camera on the desk that Mitchell specifically had her turn to while in the office. The Grand Junction Police Department (GJPD) said a video provided later showed a camera that was partially hidden by a towel hanging from the desk but that the camera was placed where it could still record beyond the towel.
The patient said the camera appeared to be recording for about 16 minutes, which according to the affidavit, is what she estimated was the time she was in the office. According to the affidavit, Mitchell asked the patient to open and close her legs several times and at one point moved her underwear to one side, the affidavit says.
After finding the camera, the patient pulled out her phone and recorded what she found. When the patient confronted Mitchell about the video, he grabbed the camera and took out the card and broke it in half. The affidavit says he put both the camera and card in his pocket.
The patient recorded the confrontation with Mitchell and, according to the affidavit, Mitchell apologized several times, saying it was the first time he had ever done something like this. He said what had happened was "not OK." He went on to ask what he could do to make it better, the affidavit says.
A former patient that was also interviewed said they remembered Mitchell giving special discounts to high school students, specifically cheerleaders, and there were pictures of cheerleaders on the walls of the office.
Mitchell was booked Aug 4. at the Mesa County Detention Center. He is scheduled to be formally charged in court on Tuesday.
This incident remains under investigation and there is no further information available at this time. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call non-emergency dispatch at 970-242-6707, reference case number 23-36768. Information can also be reported anonymously to Mesa County Crime Stoppers at 970-241-STOP.
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