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Laptops seized from home of man accused of recording young girls with iPad

According to police records, he allegedly invited five females of various ages onto his yacht and used his personal iPad to record them while they were using the shower.

CHERRYVILLE, N.C. -- Authorities seized several devices, including multiple laptops, during the raid of a North Carolina man who is accused of recording young girls on his yacht in Myrtle Beach.

On Tuesday, authorities raided 49-year-old William Richard Hilliard's home in Cherryville as part of an investigation. Deputies seized almost 70 devices, including cameras, memory cards, laptops and cell phones, according to a list compiled by investigators.

NBC Charlotte has learned that Hilliard is being charged with first-degree voyeurism.

According to police records, he allegedly invited five females of various ages onto his yacht and used his personal iPad to record them while they were using the shower.

Three of the victims were underage and the other two were 18 and 20 years old, according to police records. According to an arrest warrant, one of the teenagers boarding the "Yacht O' Troubles" saw the iPad was recording her shower and then called the police.

Cleveland County detectives spoke on Tuesday to one of the victims on the yacht, according to a newly unsealed search warrant.

She claimed the iPad Hilliard used to record her contained several videos, including one inside Hilliard's Cherryville home.

The victim also said the video showed one of the Hilliard family's three babysitters showering in a bathroom without realizing she's being recorded, court documents said.

Sheriff Alan Norman said the investigation is in its infancy and no criminal charges have been filed yet.

He asked anyone with information to call his investigators.

"What you may know may be another link to a victim or victims," Sheriff Norman said. "How small a piece of information you may have is vital to this investigation at this time."

Anyone with information can call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 704-484-4788 and request to speak to the investigative unit.

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