S.F. professor accused of peeping on young men

"We want to get the word out to the community that if other people have witnessed or believe they are a victim of the individual, they need to come forward and report this to the San Francisco police special victims unit," said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón. less "We want to get the word out to the community that if other people have witnessed or believe they are a victim of the individual, they need to come forward and report this to the San Francisco police ... more Photo: Mike Kepka / The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close S.F. professor accused of peeping on young men 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An accounting professor who taught at both San Francisco State and the University of San Francisco was arrested Wednesday for allegedly filming friends and former and current students as they used the restroom in his San Francisco home.

Mark Landis, 38, was charged with 15 misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy.

The investigation began in November, according to court documents, when one guest found a camera hidden in a tissue box on a toilet in Landis' home in the Castro, according to court documents.

The houseguest removed the memory card from the camera. When he watched it, he recognized himself and friends caught on video using the toilet. The camera had been positioned to film the genital region of men facing the toilet to urinate, authorities said.

The men brought the memory card to the police.

One of the victims told The Chronicle that Landis was friendly, open and fun-loving with not just his friends but also his students and co-workers. Landis had turned his home into a weekend party hub, the victim said.

"He was just the person that would host, and it was a safe place to go to," said the man, whom The Chronicle is not identifying. "We basically hung out every single weekend for about two years, and we always hung out at his house because he always had a lot of alcohol."

When the man and his friends realized that they had been filmed, they immediately cut ties with Landis.

"It's scarred all of us," the man said. "This was a close friend of ours. We could open up to him. He was a mature figure we could chat with and have conversations with. He always seemed like a nice guy, but now we're wondering if he was just nice to us so we would invite more friends over."

Landis, who is free on $100,000 bail, did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

San Francisco State spokeswoman Adrianne Bee said Landis, who had taught at the school since 2006, resigned last Friday. University of San Francisco spokeswoman Anne-Marie Devine said Landis taught at the school for two years. As an adjunct lecturer, his contract was not renewed for the spring 2014 semester.

Fifteen victims were identified on the video, but authorities believe there are more. District Attorney George Gascón encouraged victims to come forward.

"We want to get the word out to the community that if other people have witnessed or believe they are a victim of the individual, they need to come forward and report this to the San Francisco police special victims unit," said Gascón.

Gascón called the case very disturbing.

"You have an individual that has power and authority over these young kids that he invited to his home," he said. "There was a special relationship there - one of power, authority and trust - and he violated that."

Landis is scheduled to return to court for arraignment on Tuesday.