Owner of Clear Lake tanning salon accused of secretly recording customers pleads guilty

CLEAR LAKE — A St. Ansgar man accused of invasion of privacy and interference with official acts charges after being accused of secretly recording people at a Clear Lake tanning business has pleaded guilty.

52-year-old Daryl Johnson was arrested in late January after an ongoing investigation regarding a report of Johnson secretly recording patrons of a tanning business in the 500 block of US Highway 18 East.

A criminal complaint stated that in September of 2022 and January of this year, Johnson allegedly placed a phone on top of an eight-foot wall separating adjacent tanning bed rooms and recorded the customers using the rooms.

Johnson entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors late last week. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st.

Johnson is also one of the Iowans who has been convicted in the January 6th riots at the US Capitol. Johnson and his 31-year-old son Daniel admitted to entering the Capitol building through a broken window and pushing through a police line once inside. Daryl Johnson was sentenced to 30 days in jail while Daniel Johnson was sentenced to four months.