‘Akin to stalking’: Columbus chef stays jailed on Animal Farm restroom recording charges
Witnesses who were allegedly recorded by a co-owner in the restrooms of a downtown Columbus restaurant asked a judge Thursday to keep the suspect in jail.
They testified at a bond hearing for Dennis Cleveland “Landon” Thompson, formerly a chef at The Animal Farm at 105 12th St., where he was accused of secretly recording customers and coworkers.
Thompson faces 11 counts of unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance, and six counts each of child sexual exploitation and of illegally installing recording devices. Prosecutor George Lipscomb said investigators have identified 10 more victims, and more charges are expected.
Lipscomb told Superior Court Judge Ben Richardson that Thompson also is to face charges for illegally recording guests in bathrooms at his home in Columbus and his parents’ home in Harris County. So far authorities have identified two victims in those incidents, he said.
After hearing testimony from six witnesses who asked him to keep Thompson in jail, the judge agreed, saying he would reconsider Thompson’s bond motion later.
Thompson, 37, has been jailed without bond since he surrendered to police Sept. 29, four weeks after the other owner of the business, Hudson Terrell, reported finding recording devices hidden in restroom vents.
Defense attorney Mark Post had asked Richardson to set a reasonable bond so Thompson can be freed from the Muscogee County Jail, which Post described as “chronically understaffed and over capacity.”
Post said Thompson has a chronic infection dating back to repeated surgeries for a leg injury he sustained playing football for Brookstone High School. Commonly called MRSA for Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, the infection is resistant to antibiotics and could spread to other inmates, Post argued.
Teen testifies about fear
Among those testifying Thursday was a 17-year-old who said she had done work for Thompson and his parents at their homes before learning he had recorded her in their bathrooms.
She found out about the recordings weeks before Thompson’s arrest, and spent that time fearing what Thompson might be doing, she said: “He could be erasing footage, covering his tracks,” she testified.
She said also that Thompson in texts had sought excuses to be alone with her, either at his home or his parents’, and on one occasion she left his parents’ home in Harris County early to avoid contact with him.
Her stepfather also testified, outraged by what she had endured. “It very clear that this is not an isolated event,” he said, later adding, “We live with this every day. ... The innocence of this child has been stripped away forever.”
Both he and his stepdaughter testified that Thompson texted the teen while he was under investigation, saying he needed to ask her for a favor. She told him not to contact her again.
As she told how frightened and exploited she felt, Post objected, saying such testimony was not appropriate for a bond hearing.
She then objected from the witness stand: “I object!” she exclaimed. “How this made me feel is 100-percent relevant.”
Four others volunteering their testimony Thursday were restaurant workers, some alleging that Thompson behaved erratically when abusing drugs or alcohol, that he had access to multiple firearms, and that he once shot himself accidentally in the leg while he was at the business.
“I do not feel safe in his presence,” said one server. “I really don’t know what he’s capable of at this point.”
“I did not feel safe until the day I learned he was arrested,” said a restaurant manager.
In arguing against Thompson’s release, Lipscomb focused on the 17-year-old’s testimony, saying it “had elements of grooming,” or trying to curry favor with a minor to get her to accept a sexual advance. It reminded him of child molestation cases he has handled, the prosecutor said.
“This is a course of conduct akin to stalking,” Lipscomb added, asking Richardson either to refuse bond or to set it so high that Thompson is compelled to take the consequences seriously.
Post argued Thompson presented no danger to the public and no risk of fleeing if freed from jail. Thompson’s father, Dennis “Landy” Thompson, said his son would live with his parents in Harris County, if released, and go to work helping with a home renovation project expected to take months.
Post said his client would abide by any court-ordered conditions of his release, including drug or alcohol treatment, a curfew, travel restrictions and prohibitions on having access to guns.
Richardson rejected that, saying Thompson should remain jailed as police identify more victims and add more charges. He noted that Thompson has not yet been jailed for 90 days, when by law he is entitled to have a bond set.
The discovery
Terrell, the restaurant’s other owner, told the Ledger-Enquirer in a September phone interview that he discovered restroom videos stored on a restaurant computer, then found the recording devices and notified the police.
Though Post maintains that Thompson remains a restaurant co-owner, Terrell said he got a restraining order to prohibit Thompson’s return. Post said Thursday that Thompson’s role in the restaurant is to be resolved in a pending civil court case.
Columbus police said Thursday that they still want anyone who used the restaurant restrooms from July 1 through Sept. 1 to contact investigators at 706-225-3164 or email Sgt. Alicia Hoover at ahoover@columbusga.org. They also might have been recorded, and detectives continue to identify victims.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 4:31 PM.