CHICAGO IL (WKZO AM/FM) – The son of two prominent Kalamazoo citizens has been charged with illegally using a hidden camera to record the nannies working in his home.
38 year old Michael Johnston, the son of William Johnston and Rhonda Stryker, owns venues Schubas and Lincoln Hall in the Chicago area, and is also the CEO of Audiotree.
All three entities have removed Johnston as a part of management.
Johnston has been arraigned and charged on one count of felony unauthorized videotaping.
He and his wife Kelly have also been named in a civil lawsuit filed by the nanny and a friend, who were hired by the couple to house sit their mansion in Roscoe Village, IL.
The 38 year old Johnston is charged with unauthorized videotaping, a class four felony in Illinois, which is punishable by one to three years in prison. His wife Kelly has not been charged.
Johnston had an initial court appearance Wednesday and is set for indictment December 6, in Cook County Circuit Court.
According to the civil lawsuit filed in late September, Johnston and his wife recorded a nanny and her friend on hidden cameras while they were undressing and bathing.
The lawsuit said one of the cameras was hidden inside of a picture frame aimed at a jacuzzi tub the women were encouraged by the couple to use.
Johnston’s mother, Ronda, is an heiress to Stryker Corporation and his father, William, is chairman of wealth management company Greenleaf Trust and vice chairman of Western Michigan University board of trustees.
The two donated $100 million in 2011 for the creation of the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.
The plaintiffs in the civil case are seeking more than $75,000 in damages
A trial date has not been set.
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