Ex-SF museum curator arrested after allegedly filming 20 people in the bathroom

A former San Francisco museum curator was arrested this month after being accused of recording people in his bathroom without their consent during a birthday party.

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Andrew Farago, an author, historian and former curator of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, was arrested on June 3 on suspicion of recording 20 people in the bathroom at the party, which had attendees including at least six children ages 3 years old or older, Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Byron White told SFGATE in an email Wednesday. According to court documents viewed by the Berkeley Scanner, Farago co-hosted the party on May 23 at his Berkeley home. 

A woman at the party found Farago’s phone wrapped in a towel and aimed in a direction that would “record people’s genitalia as they used the restroom,” and video footage on the phone showed Farago setting it up, the Berkeley Police Department wrote in the documents, according to the Berkeley Scanner. 

When the woman confronted Farago, police reportedly said, he said he deleted the footage from his phone. According to the Scanner, court papers said Farago then emailed his party guests and apologized, calling his actions a “tremendous lapse in judgement.” 

“I hid my phone in our bathroom for the purpose of spying on our guests, my closest friends in the world. I had never done anything like that before and don’t know what possessed me to do it,” Farago reportedly wrote, according to the court documents the Scanner viewed. 

White said police launched an investigation and obtained a search warrant and an arrest warrant for Farago on May 27. Officers conducted a search at his house on June 20 and seized his electronic devices, White said. 

Farago’s arrest warrant included 20 counts of secretly recording someone who is undressed or in their undergarments without their consent, White said. Farago’s name does not appear in the Alameda County inmate records as of Thursday afternoon. 

The 50-year-old is a notable figure in San Francisco art and pop culture, including writing comics and co-authoring a history of Batman. Farago also helped advocate for the museum to acquire a new location in 2016 after its former Mission Street location doubled in rent. The museum is now at 781 Beach St., a block from Ghirardelli Square.

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Although Farago is still listed as the curator for the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum in several places online, his name has been removed from the museum’s official site and his LinkedIn profile has been deleted.

Summerlea Kashar, the museum’s executive director, confirmed to SFGATE by email Wednesday that Farago is no longer employed by the museum and was “placed on administrative leave immediately after the situation became known” to the museum.  After “further review and investigation” he was “relieved of his duties for breach of code of conduct,” she said 

Kashar did not provide an exact date for his termination. “We are shocked and saddened by this situation,” the museum said in its statement.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to SFGATE’s question about whether prosecutors plan to file charges against Farago.