A California man remains at large after being charged with secretly recording dozens of women inside the tanning booths of a gym — a case that has prompted the local prosecutor to publicly call for a change in state law, after concluding that the alleged filming of so many victims can be treated only as a series of minor offences.
Kyle L. Combs, 40, of Grover Beach, is the subject of an arrest warrant after the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office charged him with 12 misdemeanour counts of invasion of privacy. According to KSBY, a Superior Court judge, Erin Childs, signed the warrant and set bail at $50,000. The Daily Mail reported that Combs had not been taken into custody as of Saturday afternoon. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of up to six years in county jail.
Prosecutors allege that Combs secretly used a device to record women while they were partially or fully undressed inside standing tanning booths, and red-light therapy rooms, at the Planet Fitness on West Branch Street in Arroyo Grande. The criminal charges relate to 12 named victims and cover the period between 12 July and 29 December last year, though investigators believe the true number of women filmed is around 47. Police said a forensic examination of devices seized from Combs’s home uncovered more than 50 videos. He is accused of entering the locked tanning-booth room to film women without their knowledge; one civil claim, reported by the New York Post, alleges that he picked locks to gain access and slid his phone inside.
The investigation began on 29 December, when a woman noticed a camera recording her in a booth. Combs left before officers arrived, but police said they identified him through surveillance footage, witness accounts and the later search of his property.
What has set the case apart is the response of District Attorney Dan Dow, who used the announcement to highlight what he sees as a gap in California law. While describing the alleged conduct as a “deeply disturbing violation of privacy, dignity, and personal security,” he warned that, because the victims are adults and the suspect has no qualifying prior conviction, the offences can generally be charged only as misdemeanours. Any move to make such behaviour a felony, he said, “must come from the California Legislature,” and he urged residents to lobby their state representatives. His office added that further alleged incidents, said to have taken place between January and June of last year, could not be prosecuted because they fell outside the statute of limitations.
The case has also moved into the civil courts. According to the New York Post, eight women have launched legal action against both Combs and Planet Fitness, with more than one lawsuit filed in connection with the allegations.
Arroyo Grande police have appealed for any women who used the tanning or red-light therapy rooms at the gym during 2025, and have not yet spoken to investigators, to come forward. The district attorney’s office stressed that the charges are allegations only, and that Combs is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
