Man Given 8 Years for Spying on Boy

A registered sex offender was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to spying on an 8-year-old neighbor boy by planting a sophisticated surveillance camera in the child’s room.

Kyle Kendrick Kirby, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and trespassing with the intent of invading the boy’s privacy, and was sentenced by Municipal Judge Margaret R. Anderson in Newport Beach.

He faced up to 12 years in prison for the crime, his second strike under the state’s “three strikes” law. He had previously served a prison sentence after being convicted in 1986 of kidnapping a 13-year-old Pomona boy, who was photographed nude.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Chuck Middleton said he was pleased with the sentence and that authorities were able to stop Kirby before any harm could come to the boy.

Authorities said Kirby used a color television set as a ruse, outfitting it with a secret surveillance camera and then giving it to the boy. The setup allowed Kirby to watch the youth as he changed and slept, although there was no evidence the defendant had yet watched or taped the boy.

The boy had the television only for about a week before police were tipped off by a woman in the neighborhood.