Ferino’s Pizzeria owner Adam Burns says he may not reactivate the interactive part of his Facebook page ever again after it was hacked Sunday, Sept. 11 and photos of female employees using a restroom were posted online.

Burns said he first thought that someone was prank-calling the Port Hadlock business, but then he looked on the business’s Facebook account and “it was blowing up with disgusting comments.”

The videos showed females, in various levels of undress, using the restroom.

“We instantly shut down the Facebook page and the restaurant,” Burns said on Thursday, Sept. 15. He said he didn't want to take any more calls and wasn't sure what to make of the images.

“I saw the first screenshot and I didn't need to see that. There's no reason. I viewed it only to see what happened. I didn't feel comfortable looking at these pictures,” Burns said. “These girls work here. They are people I care about.”

Brett Anglin, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office detective, confirmed Sept. 15 that the sheriff's office received a call from Adams Sept. 11 about a video recording device having apparently been used inside an employee restroom.

Three videos were made public on the Ferino's Pizzeria Facebook page that day, Anglin said. Burns had removed them as quickly as possible, Anglin said.

The detective declined to get into further specifics as the case is an ongoing investigation. He cautioned against a rush to judgment about who may be responsible until the investigation is complete.

Voyeurism would be a Class C felony, and conviction could bring jail time and/or probation, and the requirement to register as a sex offender.

HIDDEN CAMERA

With customers still sitting and enjoying their meals, Burns said, he called the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and closed the restaurant at about 3:15 p.m. Deputies came and checked the restaurant for hidden cameras. Burns did not reopen the restaurant that day.

“They found nothing,” he said. “Whatever was in here is gone now.”

Burns, whose daughter works at the pizzeria, said he was concerned about the safety of staff and customers and so he made arrangements first thing on Monday to have the locks of the doors changed. And he reopened the popular restaurant.

“I just have to do whatever I can to make sure nothing like this happens ever again,” he said of planning to change policies about cell phone use.

Burns, who worked at the pizzeria for 20 years before buying it in 2014, said nothing like this has ever happened to him before and it was one of the hardest days in his career.

“Never in a million years did I feel like this would happen here. It's like it's not real,” he said.

Burns said his business is not dependent on Facebook.

“It's not worth it. There's a good chance I may never reactivate it again. It's not important to me.”

Burns said his employees are devastated, although the girls who were depicted in the photos seem to be doing OK, he noted.

“It's an awful, terrible thing to have happened,” he said.

“You never think it will happen to you. I'm concerned that it could happen to anyone.”

SIMILAR INCIDENT

The most recent similar case in Jefferson County occurred in 2012 at Fort Townsend State Park, when a part-time Washington State Parks employee was arrested for spying on a teenage girl in a public restroom. The girl had seen a hand holding a camera through a grate in a stall wall; the man had access to the maintenance shed that shared an interior wall with the restroom. The man was eventually convicted of voyeurism; evidence was found that seven girls had been filmed. The Class C felony conviction resulted in jail time for the 52-year-old man. A person convicted of voyeurism is also required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 10 years following release from custody.

(Staff writer Patrick J. Sullivan contributed to this story.)