The Oregon Country Fair volunteer accused of secretly recording video in a communal shower may have filmed as many as 20 people naked, including a girl under the age of 10, newly released court records state.
Elijah D. Russo, 31, faces a single felony count of first-degree invasion of privacy for the alleged incident on July 5 at a party for volunteers in the runup to the fair’s official opening at the fairgrounds in Veneta.
Russo is accused of hiding his cell phone in a toiletries basket in “The Ritz,” a clothing-optional, communal shower at the fairgrounds, according to court records.
Russo allegedly lingered in the showers as he secretly recorded 30 minutes of video on his phone. Court records show that The Ritz features a sign at the entrance that forbids recording devices and phones.
Another person at the fairgrounds eventually caught on to Russo’s alleged actions, and fair staffers escorted him off the premises and called the Lane County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies talked to him, Russo said he had been camping at the fairgrounds overnight and was a volunteer on the “Flower Team,” which is tasked with decorating the fairgrounds before they opened to the public, court records show.
Oregon Country Fair staff told responding deputies that Russo was not “involved with the fair in an official capacity.”
Troy Courtright, a former fair volunteer who said he was a longtime friend of Russo’s up until his arrest, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Russo had been working as a volunteer crew member at the fair for 9 years — including in 2025.
The Oregonian/OregonLive also obtained photos that appear to show Russo working with volunteers on the fairgrounds this year.
When Russo spoke with deputies, he told them that recording video in the shower was “not something he had thought of doing prior to doing it,” but that he was curious, prosecutors allege in court documents. When deputies pressed him further, he admitted that sexual arousal could have been a motivation, court records state.
Russo claimed that he didn’t intend to film any minors, but he acknowledged he knew there was a child in the showers when he was filming, records state.
When investigators seized his phone and watched the video he’d taken, they found he had filmed more than 20 people — including a girl who was likely under the age of 10, court records allege.
Russo and the Oregon Country Fair did not respond to requests for comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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