Sheriff Grady Judd Reads From Polk Tax Collector IT Manager’s Journal Detailing His Final Hours in Bartow Voyeurism Case
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A Polk County Tax Collector’s Office information technology manager who was the focus of a video voyeurism investigation was found dead Tuesday morning at Colt Creek State Park, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office said it appears Sean Michael Krause, 60, of Lakeland, took his own life, though the investigation remains ongoing and the Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released its findings.
The investigation began Monday, Sept. 21, when deputies were called to the Tax Collector’s Office Information Technology building in Bartow after an employee found a hidden camera in the women’s restroom. The building is separate from the main Tax Collector’s Office and is open only to employees. Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 23, that because the building is not open to the public, members of the public were not exposed to the camera.
What investigators found
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the small camera had been concealed inside a box that holds disposable toilet seat covers in a restroom stall. A Sheriff’s Office detective collected and analyzed the camera and its recording device. Footage on the SD card showed a white man with a long beard placing the camera in the restroom, and Tax Collector’s Office employees identified him as IT Manager Sean Krause. The card also contained multiple videos of at least three women, recorded without their knowledge.
Judd said at the news conference that investigators believe the camera was first placed around May of this year and went undiscovered until Monday. He said investigators also have evidence that Krause moved the camera at some point, including placing it under a desk in the office. Detectives have seized Krause’s laptop and cell phone and will seek search warrants for them, Judd said, adding that at this early stage investigators have found no evidence that Krause posted any recordings online.
Judd said Krause slipped out of the Bartow office at about 2:30 p.m. Monday, as deputies began arriving after being alerted to the camera. On his way home, Krause called his wife and told her he had done something really, really bad, Judd said, and he arrived at his Lakeland home at about 3:20 p.m.
When deputies went to the home, a witness told them Krause had been there and admitted to secretly recording employees using the bathroom at work before he left the house. Krause left his cell phone at the home, which Judd said meant investigators could not track his location, and they believed they were likely dealing with a man at risk of taking his own life.
Detectives began searching for him. According to the Sheriff’s Office news release, a park ranger at Colt Creek State Park reported at about 8:25 p.m. Monday that the vehicle deputies were looking for was in the park. Deputies searched the park overnight and found Krause’s body in a wooded area at 8:28 a.m. Tuesday.
Judd said deputies had quickly obtained a warrant for four counts of digital video voyeurism, each a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. He said additional charges and additional victims are possible as the investigation continues.
“I really, really, really wanted to hold him accountable for his horrific conduct against his co-workers. I really did,” Judd said.
What the journal revealed
Investigators found a 17-page journal in Krause’s car, Judd said. Judd said he would not release the journal or share sensitive information from it, but he read portions aloud at the news conference because its time-stamped entries show where Krause was while deputies were searching for him.
According to the entries Judd read, Krause began writing at 4:19 p.m. Monday. In that first entry, he acknowledged that police would be looking for him because they had found the camera he placed in a women’s restroom at the Tax Collector’s Office. Krause called his voyeurism an addiction and wrote of an unbearable amount of shame, saying it was something he could not live with others knowing, Judd said. In later entries, he expressed love for his wife and regret for what his actions would put her through. He also apologized to the first responders and wrote that he hoped a young park ranger he had spoken with that afternoon would not be the one to find him.
Judd said the entries continued for about three hours, until shortly after 7:15 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office did not learn Krause was at the park until later that night. Judd said that window is why he believes license plate readers on state roads could have led deputies to the park in time.
Judd says license plate readers could have narrowed the search
Judd used the news conference to criticize the removal of license plate reader cameras from state roads. In an Aug. 31, 2026, memorandum, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for automated license plate readers on state highway rights-of-way, and Judd said agencies were given 30 days to take them down. He said cameras the city of Lakeland and the Sheriff’s Office had on state roads, including U.S. Highway 98 North, were no longer in place. Had they been, Judd said, investigators could have narrowed the search to a small area that included two public parks and gone there first.
“We may have saved his life. We’ll never know now,” Judd said.
Judd said license plate readers do not track people’s movements and that their data is already confidential under state law. He said the Sheriff’s Office limits retention of plate reader data to 30 days, although the state allows three years, and that he agrees with Gov. Ron DeSantis that guardrails on their use should be written into state law.
Judd acknowledged that the technology can be misused. He praised the Haines City Police Department for moving quickly to fire and jail one of its officers, who was among two Florida officers arrested recently for using Flock cameras to track people unrelated to any case, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.
“Am I frustrated? You bet I’m frustrated.” Polk County Sheriff grady Judd
Tax Collector Tedder Responds
Polk County Tax Collector Joe G. Tedder, who joined Judd at the news conference, said Krause was fired as soon as he was identified as the person responsible.
“I am shocked and disturbed by these events and deeply saddened for the employees who were directly impacted by this terrible act. This employee was terminated as soon as he was identified as the perpetrator.
I am proud of the way my staff acted when the matter was brought to our attention, how quickly the Sheriff’s Office became involved, and for their professionalism in identifying the individual responsible before day’s end.
We ask that the community keep in their thoughts and prayers the employees affected by this,” Tedder said in the Sheriff’s Office news release.
At the news conference, Tedder said his office had no experience with a matter like this and thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its professionalism and compassion. He said he is encouraging his staff to use the counseling available through the county’s employee assistance program.
“At this time, my focus has been and will continue to be on my team,” Tedder said.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What happened at the Polk County Tax Collector’s Office IT building in Bartow?
On Sept. 21, 2026, an employee found a hidden camera in the women’s restroom of the employee-only IT building, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Was the public exposed to the hidden camera?
No. Sheriff Grady Judd said the building is not open to the public, so only employees could have been recorded.
How long was the camera in place?
Judd said investigators believe it was first placed around May 2026.
How many people were recorded?
The Sheriff’s Office said the videos showed at least three women recorded without their knowledge, and Judd said investigators are working to determine whether there are more victims.
What charges would Krause have faced?
Judd said deputies obtained a warrant for four counts of digital video voyeurism, each a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Were the recordings posted online?
Judd said that at this early stage, investigators have found no evidence that they were.
Why were license plate readers removed from state roads?
The Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for automated license plate readers on state highway rights-of-way in an Aug. 31, 2026, memorandum.
Sources: Polk County Sheriff’s Office, news release, “Suspect in video voyeurism investigation found deceased in apparent suicide,” Sept. 22, 2026; Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Tax Collector Joe G. Tedder, news conference, Sept. 23, 2026; Florida Department of Transportation, memorandum revoking permits for automated license plate readers on state highway rights of way, Aug. 31, 2026, as reported by Tampa Free Press, “Public Fires Back As Polk County Sheriff Defends License Plate Readers Over Body Cams”; Fox 13 Tampa Bay, “Florida AG, law enforcement agencies issue comments on automated license plate readers.”
