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Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
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Women Say Real Estate Mogul Recorded Sex

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) - A former Northern California real estate mogul secretly recorded himself having sex and then sold the tapes to porn websites, three women claim in state court.

The lawsuits filed this week accuse former Lyon Real Estate CEO Michael Lyon of disguising video cameras inside his Sacramento-area home and taping "private sexual behavior" with plaintiffs Mary, April and Elizabeth Doe.

Lyon, 60, admitted to taping prostitutes and pled guilty to four counts of electronic eavesdropping in 2011. He was later sued by a group of former nannies and family friends, eventually settling with them for $2.5 million.

The former head of his father's real estate empire and Boy Scout troop leader, Lyon has routinely been sued in Sacramento Superior Court since his confession in 2011, including Tuesday's filings.

He was arrested again in October 2014 after Sacramento County probation officers found methamphetamine and other drugs inside his master bedroom. He was booked on 16 new felony charges including electronic eavesdropping, and the case is still active.

The plaintiffs in the latest civil lawsuits say they first learned of the videotaping allegations when they were contacted by law enforcement in January 2015.

"Lyon attempted to and did watch and capture visual images of plaintiff while plaintiff was engaged in private sexual behavior," Elizabeth Doe's complaint states. "This despicable conduct constitutes malice, fraud and oppression."

The women are suing Lyon for invasion of privacy and fraud, and are asking for punitive damages. Their attorneys at Gavrilov & Brooks of Sacramento declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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