ST. LOUIS – A St. Charles County man was sentenced Thursday for hiding a camera in his bathroom and using it to capture photos and videos of minors.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Scott Falkner, 38, pleaded guilty in January 2023 to a felony count of receiving child pornography.

Following a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, investigators turned up at Falkner’s home on March 21, 2021, with a search warrant and discovered 423 images and 91 videos of illicit child sexual material on his cellphone. Falkner had downloaded all but five videos.

Falkner confessed that he created those videos by secretly recording girls in his bathroom. The victims were between the ages of 10 and 17.

Investigators became aware of the crimes after Falkner sent files containing child porn via the Kik Messenger app.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Falkner to 16 1/2 years in federal prison.