Revered artist is caught secretly recording kids and parents using bathroom during his birthday party at home, police say

Published: 00:06, 24 June 2026 | Updated: 00:06, 24 June 2026 A prominent cartoonist in California admitted to recording children and their parents who used the bathroom at his home as he hosted a birthday party, police say. Andrew Farago, who was the curator of San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum, was initially arrested on June 3 on 20 counts of invasion of privacy involving the use of a hidden camera, according to the Berkley Police Department.  The 50-year-old cohosted a birthday party at his South Berkley home on May 23, that was attended by more than 20 people, including six to seven children ranging in age from 3 years old and older, police said.  While the party was in full swing, a woman found Farago's phone concealed by a towel aimed towards people's genitalia, according to officials, cited by the Berkley Scanner.  The report also noted that the woman found a video on the phone of Farago setting up the device. She confronted the cartoonist who 'made admissions and also stated that he had deleted the videos' from his phone and the cloud, police wrote. According to the court document, Farago sent out an email to guests after the party that expressed regret: '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.' Andrew Farago, 50, was arrested on June 3 on 20 counts of invasion of privacy involving the use of a hidden camera, according to the Berkley Police Department Farago was the curator of San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum for nearly 25 years and is 'recognized globally as an authority on comic art, animation, and pop culture,' according to his LinkedIn  According to court papers, the artist added: 'This was an inexcusable violation of your privacy and our friendship and I am prepared to face whatever consequences will come from this tremendous lapse in judgement.' Berkeley Police obtained a warrant and arrested Farago at his home on Saturday, where they also seized several electronic devices, according to officials. The police said the case remains under investigation.  The Daily Mail has reached out to Andrew Farago for comment. The director of San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum told the Daily Mail: 'Mr. Farago is no longer employed at the Cartoon Art Museum.' 'We are shocked and saddened by this situation.' According to Farago's LinkedIn, he has worked at the Cartoon Art Museum for nearly 25 years and has also worked for MARVEL on multiple projects. The cartoonist cohosted a birthday party at his South Berkley home on May 23, where he allegedly admitted to recording his guests which included both children and adults, said police  'Served as Curator of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, the only museum of its kind in the western United States,' reads Farago's biography on his LinkedIn. 'Twenty-five years of experience in museum operations, including curatorial duties, collections management, gallery preparation and maintenance, administration and education.' He also noted that he is 'recognized globally as an authority on comic art, animation, and pop culture.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.