Dental assistant indicted on 68 charges

A dental assistant in Maryland has been indicted on 68 charges for allegedly illegally accessing the private media of nearly four dozen dental patients and coworkers and taking lewd videos of women, according to police.

Delano Draine, 43, of Owings Mills, MD, was indicted on charges of visual surveillance, theft, peeping, theft, and computer crime offenses. Draine was remanded to prison without bond. The investigation is ongoing, according to a press release dated June 5 from the Howard County Police Department.

In December 2023, a 16-year-old girl told police she was in a dressing room at a clothing store at The Mall in Columbia, MD, when she saw a man using a device to record her over the door of a dressing room. Following an investigation, police identified Draine as a possible suspect. Later that month, police seized various evidence through search warrants and conducted an extensive analysis of Draine's digital devices, according to police.

From the devices, police recovered multiple videos of at least 11 female victims. Some of the videos were upskirt shots and others were taken in dressing rooms. The videos were recorded at several locations in Howard County, MD, and the region.

Additionally, Draine is accused of recording female dental patients and coworkers at a dental practice in Columbia, where he worked as a dental assistant. He purportedly took the videos so he could capture their smartphone passcodes, according to the release. The name of the practice was not identified.

Once Draine had access to patients' and coworkers' phones, he reportedly went through their media galleries and recorded their personal videos and photos on his phone. The dental assistant reportedly had access to the personal media of 37 patients and coworkers, all of whom police believe they have identified. At this time, police don't believe any of the recovered media has been posted on social media or public websites.