HICKORY, N.C. – A Catawba County man has been charged with peeping after a recording device was found in one of the tanning bed rooms at a Planet Fitness in Hickory.

• The device was found inside a tanning room
• Gym members say the company should have let them know about the situation
• Darren Atles is in jail under a $12,000 bond

Gym members, especially women, say they're even more upset that the gym has not told them about the device being found. They say they heard it first from Spectrum News Tuesday afternoon.

“I personally don't use it, but for the ladies that do that’s very, very invading of their privacy,” member Kisha Shuford said. “That should have been something that came across as urgent, that everybody should know about it. We shouldn't be hearing about it on the news.”

According to Hickory police documents, a member of the gym was using one of the tanning rooms when she saw the device, which she says looked like a phone charger hooked up to the wall outlet. She turned it into the desk and also called police.

Monday afternoon, Darren Rodney Astles was charged with two felonies: possessing photographic image from peeping and peeping using photographic imaging device.

The gym also released a statement saying:

“The privacy of our members is extremely important to us. As such, the local franchise group is working closely with the local authorities on this matter. Given that this is an ongoing investigation, please reach out to them for further questions.”

Atles is in jail under a $12,000 bond.