ST. PAUL, Minn. - Corey Yoder had a feeling something weird was going on.
About a year ago, Yoder was working out at the L.A. Fitness club in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. He says it felt like a young man sitting on a workout machine holding a phone was filming him.
"I wanted to go over and say 'Hey, can I see your phone?' But I didn't want to look like a gym bro-type of guy, you know, and yank the phone out of his hand in case I was completely wrong,” Yoder said.
Then Yoder recently got a call from a friend who stumbled upon a YouTube video.
“Holy cow. I was right. This guy was filming,” Yoder said.
In the video, Yoder is seen lifting weights. The camera zooms in on Yoder’s crotch and follows him as he walks around.
And there are more. Thirty-six videos posted by the same person, all of which zoom in on men's crotches -- while they work out, while they dress in the locker room, while they relax in the sauna.
“I'm lucky enough to be fully clothed in my video,” Yoder said.
None of them seem to be aware they're being filmed.
“I have a lot of friends who work at LA Fitness. I sent the link to them, and they were just blown away,” Yoder said.
Yoder told his workout partner, Alex Palmer, who is also captured on video. And he is not okay with it either.
“This is creepy. This is not cool,” Palmer said. “It's surprising how bold that guy was. It's surprising that there's so many followers of that kind of stuff.”
No one from LA Fitness management would do an interview but they emailed KARE 11 to say, "We are investigating this behavior and will terminate the membership of any person found to be involved and alert law enforcement."
According to Minnesota law, it's legal to videotape in public places. But two Minneapolis attorneys who specialize in privacy laws told KARE 11 where there is an expectation of privacy -- such as a locker room – secretly recording video is an invasion of privacy.
But that's not why Corey and Alex are sharing their story.
“I really don't care to press charges. I just want it taken down. And I want him kicked out of the gym so it can't happen anymore,” Yoder said.
“Some of the videos of guys half-naked in the locker room. That could be really damaging to some people. That could be embarrassing. It could cause them social problems. It could cause them problems at work. I would just ask that he stops and takes the stuff down,” Palmer said.
And they want you to know this was going on, so you can be aware when you workout.