QuickTake:

The 31-year-old Elmira man remains free on electronic monitoring pending a trial on a charge of first-degree invasion of privacy.

A 31-year-old Elmira man pleaded not guilty Friday, July 25, in Lane County Circuit Court to a charge that he recorded people without their knowledge or consent in a nude shower area at the Oregon Country Fair.

Elijah David Russo faces a charge of first-degree invasion of privacy, a Class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

A search warrant filed in the case describes a man at the fair telling a deputy that he saw Russo using a cell phone placed in a toiletries caddy to record people on July 5 at a shower area known as the Ritz.

Russo was arrested on the fair’s set-up weekend and released on July 9. He is being electronically monitored pending a trial, with a pretrial conference scheduled for Aug. 11.

Nudity at the Oregon Country Fair is common enough that the topic makes an appearance on the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the fair’s website (for the record, people are required to cover their genitals in public “in accordance with Oregon law.”)

Fair officials have not commented specifically about the arrest. A marketing manager for the event has said that fair policies prohibit video recording, and court documents describe a sign at the Ritz shower stating, “NO Cellphones or Cameras,” among other prohibited activities.

The man who called the sheriff’s office to report the recording told a Lane County sheriff’s deputy that there was no record of Russo being involved with the fair in any official capacity, according to a search warrant filed in the case.

But on Friday, The Oregonian reported comments from a man stating that Russo has been a longtime volunteer at the fair.

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