VALPARAISO | David Jeffery Lee pleaded not guilty Monday to a criminal charge stemming from accusations that he videotaped a 17-year-old girl as she undressed in a dressing room at a Chesterton photo studio.

The 29-year-old Lee could face between six months and three years behind bars if convicted on the felony voyeurism charge.

He faces another 36 counts of voyeurism in Lake County stemming from accusations of secretly filming female clients at his former studio at his Highland home. That case is pending.

The Chesterton case came to light when a 17-year-old Lake County girl approached police a few weeks ago to report being secretly videotaped at the Reflections Portrait Gallery & Studio at Broadway and Calumet Avenue.

The girl told police she arrived at the studio and was directed by Lee to change outfits in a downstairs dressing room. The girl told police she remembered Lee had his previous studio shut down because of video equipment in the dressing room, so she began to look around and found a videocassette recorder with the record button activated behind a curtain inside the dressing room.

She told police she saw wires coming from the videocassette recorder, but couldn't locate a camera. The girl told police she called her friend into the dressing room to show her what she found. She also ejected the tape and took it home to view. She told police she saw images of herself in underwear on the videotape, so she took the tape to police.

Police seized three computers and 20 compact discs from the business.

A preliminary check of one confiscated disc showed another female was videotaped while undressing, Chesterton Detective Lt. David Cincoski said.

He said police expect to find more victims as all the seized evidence is examined.

Lee was represented Monday by Crown Point attorney Ben Murphy.

Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa scheduled a trial for March 13, with preliminary hearings Jan. 9 and Feb. 13.