Cole Charles Corrigan
The former owner of a women-only San Luis Obispo gym pled guilty to charges that he installed a hidden camera to spy on clients and illegal possession of a handgun, the District Attorney’s Office announced.
District Attorney Dan Dow announced Nov. 28 that Cole Charles Corrigan pled guilty to “illegally video recording two patrons of the now closed CCC Fitness and being a felon in possession of a handgun. He faces 364-days in County Jail and formal probation.” He is slated to be sentenced Dec. 19.
The charges for the illegal videotaping are misdemeanors, Dow said, and the handgun charge is a felony. He also admitted in court that he had a 2007 felony conviction for possession of illegal drugs for sale. It was that drug conviction that came back to bite him in this latest case. The secret camera portion happened back in August (2023) and the gun was found in September, as a result of a search warrant. It was also one of the so-called “ghost guns” or “undetectable firearm” that are assembled out of loose gun parts and are untraceable due to no serial numbers on the gun. He also had some 60 rounds of ammunition, according to court papers.
In the charging document released by the D.A., Corrigan, 36, was in possession of a small amount of the illegal steroid, testosterone, that was also uncovered with the search warrant.
As for the illegal video taping, the charging document said Corrigan “did unlawfully use concealed camcorder, motion picture camera, and photographic camera to secretly videotape. film. photograph. and record by electronic means another identifiable person — Jane Doe 1 — under and through the clothing being worn by that other person; for the purpose of viewing the body of and the undergarments worn by that other person without the consent and knowledge of the other person; and with the intent to arouse, appeal to and gratify the lust, passions and sexual desires of that person and invade the privacy of that other person under circumstances in which the other person has reasonable expectation of privacy.”
CCC Fitness, located at 81 Higuera St., closed soon after his arrest, which made headlines in the papers in SLO. A Tribune article recounting an October interview with Corrigan, said he placed the camera in the bathroom “to catch a thief,” and that it was only live streamed and no recordings were made.
However, SLO Police exposed that as a lie when they reportedly found video copies of the two women, Jane Does 1 and 2, during their Nov. 3 search at the gym. It was a patron of the all-women gym that found the device.
Corrigan was also reportedly trying to sell the gym but an online search noted it was “permanently closed.”
The case was investigated by the SLOPD and the prosecutor is Dep. D.A. Kimberly R. Dittrich of the Sexual Assault Prosecution Team.
