A post has gone viral after one man shared that he found out his wife planted cameras in her ex-husband's home. He said the move was in an attempt to keep an eye on the ex-husband, his new girlfriend and their treatment of their daughter.
The Redditor, SmthSmth34, wrote about his situation on the subreddit "Am I The A**Hole" in a post that has been voted on over 11,000 times.
He explained that his wife, Claire, and her ex-husband, Adam, share custody of their daughter and until recently the father had not dated anyone since their marriage.
"Claire always talked about how this was a good thing because she believes that my stepdaughter is better off without a witch stepmom to boss her around and abuse her," he wrote.
When Adam began dating someone a few months ago, Claire insisted on meeting her to "test" what kind of stepmom she'd be for her daughter. At first, the Redditor said he did not pay much attention to the drama until he discovered his wife had planted cameras.
As many commenters pointed out, installing cameras into someone's home without their permission is against the law.
Many laws surrounding security camera placement all go back to the idea of "reasonable expectation of privacy." Even in the instances of "nanny cams," which are legal in the United States, in most cases, these cameras cannot be placed in rooms like a bathroom or private bedroom—where the person would have an understood expectation of privacy, according to Rosenbaumn & Rosenbaumn, P.C.
In Michigan, for example, it is against the law to install, place, or use a device for observing, recording, transmitting, photographing or eavesdropping in a private place without the consent of the people "entitled to privacy in that place," according to the Michigan Penal Code.
When Adam found out about the cameras he said he confronted his wife as he believed it was a "total breach of privacy." He explained that his wife placed the cameras while Adam was out of town using a spare key she was given.
"Claire she said she did this because Adam's girlfriend was going to move in soon and she wanted to see how she treats my stepdaughter, I told her this was wrong but she said it was all temporary til Adam's girlfriend is in 'the clear,'" he wrote.
He said he suggested she remove the cameras warning about the legal implications if Adam were to find out. In response, she told him to "stay out of it" as he "clearly" did not care about his "stepdaughter's wellbeing and happiness."
After going back and forth, he eventually told his wife he would tell Adam about the cameras if she did not.
He said he is still hesitating about telling his wife's ex as she said they would have a "problem" if he did so.
Commenters were quick to back the Redditor saying he needed to tell Adam to protect both he and his wife from legal issues.
"Honestly, I don't think OP genuinely believes he's an AH at all. I think he just needs enough people to tell him to tell Adam so he doesn't feel horrible about it," one commenter wrote.
Others said that if the cameras are discovered they could work against the couple's ability to have custody of the daughter.
The Redditor ended the post by writing: "I still want to tell him but given Claire's reaction, I'm going to get hell for this and it may not be worth it since me and Adam aren't on good terms."
Newsweek contacted SmthSmth34 for comment.
