RACCOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Raccoon Township man accused of hiding a remote listening device under his estranged wife's bed so he could catch her having an affair was sentenced Friday.
Raccoon Township police said 66-year-old Wayne Cripe's wife, Suzanne, contacted them after finding the transmitter under her bed last month. The Cripes are separated, but still share a home with separate bedrooms, police said.
Cripe was charged with felony wiretapping and was sentenced to ARD.
Cripe acknowledged using the device, telling officers he put it there so he would know when his wife and her boyfriend were having sex.
Police said Cripe was tired of overhearing his wife's lovemaking and tried to use the device, which he said didn't work, to determine whether "the coast was clear" before returning home.
Cripe’s attorney Steve Valsamidis said Cripe didn’t put the device in the room for sexual purposes. Valsamidis simply called the situation a bad marriage that went very wrong.
“A very nice man,” said defense attorney Steve Valsamidis. “I've had so many letters sent to my office saying what a nice man he is and that he is not a criminal. He is not the type of guy to get into some deviant sexual behavior, just a very sad case of ugly marriage gone really bad.”
Both sides agreed community service would be a suitable punishment.
WPXI
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