CLIFTON — A 44-year-old Paterson man has been charged with recording women in restroom stalls of the Barnes & Noble on Route 3.

Juan Mejia was arrested Wednesday afternoon after an 18-year-old noticed a camera aimed at her in the women's restroom. The young woman texted her mother, who was in the store, who went into the restroom with an employee to help her daughter.

The mother, who later on Facebook recounted what happened, said they found someone perched on a toilet in a stall that had an "out of order" sign on the door.

The employee banged on the door and Mejia stepped out, prosecutors said.

Mejia was charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of children and third-degree endangering the welfare of children for manufacturing and possessing images of suspected child pornography.

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said there was evidence that Mejia had also recorded another woman in the restroom that day.

Heather Delaney said her daughter did "all the right things" by looking under each of the stalls and keeping her cool when she saw the GoPro.

"Her actions prevented this man from doing this to others and I am so proud of how mature and brave she was," Delaney said.

A spokesman for Barnes & Noble told PIX 11 that the company takes security seriously and is as "vigilant as possible in making our stores safe and inviting for customers."

Mejia was being held Friday at the Passaic County Jail awaiting a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Clifton police told the South Passaic Daily Voice that this case is not related to their investigation into a man who exposed himself to two 10- and 14-year-old girls in separate incidents on Jan. 24.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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