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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The state Superior Court has upheld the sentence of a Hazleton man who pleaded no contest to three counts of child porn.</p><p>Juan Bermudes Prieto, 44, was sentenced in early 2018 to two to four years in state prison after he was accused of recording women and girls using the bathroom at Luigi&#8217;s Pizzeria in Mountain Top, where he worked.</p><p>Police said he was caught hiding in the ceiling to make the recordings.</p><p>Prieto pleaded no contest in late 2017, which means he does not admit guilt but acknowledges he could not overcome the prosecution&#8217;s case. In addition to sentencing him to prison time, Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas ordered Prieto to register as a tier-one sex offender for 15 years.</p><p>It&#8217;s with this last part that Prieto took issue, leading to his appeal.</p><p>Prieto claimed the order to register as a sex offender for 15 years is &#8220;cruel and unusual,&#8221; pointing out the statutory maximum sentence for the crime is seven years in prison.</p><p>President Judge Emeritus Correale F. Stevens, who wrote the Superior Court&#8217;s opinion, disagreed with Prieto&#8217;s claim.</p><p>The opinion states point-blank the 15-year registration &#8220;constitutes neither an illegal sentence nor cruel and unusual punishment.&#8221;</p><p>Stevens also said there is state law precedent that sex offenders can be punished by &#8220;both a statutory-maximum incarceration period and a limitless (sex offender) registration period thereafter.&#8221;</p><p>Thus, Prieto&#8217;s appeal was denied.</p><p>Prieto was caught in the ceiling of the pizza shop in February 2017. He fled when he was noticed, but later turned himself in.</p><p>He dropped his phone while fleeing, and prosecutors said it was filled with videos of children and women using the restroom.</p><p>Police believe he was filming women and girls from the ceiling for about a month before he was caught.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Juan Bermudes Prieto, 44, of Hazleton, is led out of court during a prior appearance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_PRieto.jpg</photo0><caption0>Juan Bermudes Prieto, 44, of Hazleton, is led out of court during a prior appearance. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Superior Court denies appeal by peeping Tom from pizzeria