The suicide of a Howard County dentist amid allegations that he used a hidden camera to secretly record three female colleagues in the nude has led to a messy legal dispute over what, if anything, his estate and former practice owe to the victims.

A female employee of Menton Family Dental Care first contacted County Police on Jan. 3, 2024, to report a hidden camera in a staff bathroom. Investigators seized several electronic devices, thumb drives and memory cards from the Ellicott City practice and its owner, Dr. Thomas Menton. Days later, the 59-year-old dentist was found dead near his family’s home in an apparent suicide.

Though criminal charges in the case never materialized, the fallout continues to play out in local and federal courts.

Three female dentists, identified in court records as Jane Doe 1, 2 and 3, respectively, filed a lawsuit in Howard County Circuit Court in September alleging negligence on the part of Menton Family Dental Care and seeking damages from the practice, which has since been sold, and from Menton’s estate. The Baltimore Banner does not identify victims of sexual misconduct.

According to the lawsuit and police records, the camera was found in a Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom situated between Menton’s office and another one used by the other dentists. The suit alleges that Menton encouraged staff to use the bathroom’s shower by purchasing a Peloton stationary exercise bike for the practice and telling them to exercise during work hours.

Jane Doe 1 told police she had just finished using the bathroom’s shower following a run in late December 2023 when she noticed a block-style charger with a lens plugged into an adjacent wall outlet. She took photos of the device and left the room to call her mother and husband. When the woman returned to look for the charger’s serial number, she found a different device in its place. She left the bathroom again and saw Menton enter the bathroom after her, police records state.

A week later, the charger with the lens was back. Jane Doe 1 took photos and video of the device, but left it and exited the room. She checked the outlet again after Menton used the bathroom, she told police, and the camera was gone.

The woman found the charger with the camera a third time, on Jan. 10, 2024, and then met with a police investigator in the office parking lot to turn it over. That day, investigators obtained a warrant to search the dental practice.

Menton told police officers during the search that he kept a charging block in the bathroom for his watch, but denied putting a camera in the space, authorities said. The dentist said he wouldn’t have accidentally bought a charger with a camera.

When investigators asked Menton if his DNA or fingerprints would be found on the camera that Jane Doe 1 turned over to police, Menton replied “I hope not, who knows,” according to police records.

Three days later, Menton was found dead near a creek close to his home in Glenwood. Authorities noted that Menton had a copy of the search warrant on his person as well as a book, “Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction” by Gary Wilson. In a handwritten letter to his family, Menton wrote that his “stupid and weak character led to the situation at work,” police records state.

Police went on to review data from the hidden camera and found numerous nude images of multiple women. Authorities identified Jane Doe 1 and two other female employees in the images.

Attorney Michael Belsky, who is representing the women, declined a request for comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

The women’s lawsuit claims they suffered professionally and economically as a result of the incident. They had to leave the practice and abandon their patients and long-term careers, the suit states, and incurred medical bills for treatment. The suit says the women felt violated and humiliated and suffered “mental anguish.”

Menton’s estate and dental practice in November asked a Howard County Circuit Court to dismiss some of the counts in the suit, arguing that any claims for compensation or damages fall exclusively under workers compensation insurance. A judge denied the motion in December.

Attorney John Bourgeois, who is representing the defendants, declined to comment on the litigation, but said in an email that the case “is a tragedy for all involved.”

More than a year after Menton’s death, the civil case remains unresolved.

Last month, the dental practice’s insurance carrier, the Cincinnati Insurance Co., asked a federal court to weigh in on the dispute. Attorneys for Cincinnati Insurance did not respond to a request for comment.

Menton’s insurance policy included general liability coverage up to $4 million. Cincinnati Insurance claims in court records that the policy contains exceptions for intentional or criminal acts.

An obituary for Menton states that he graduated from Centennial High School in 1982 and studied biology at Mount St. Mary’s University before graduating from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 1990.

“He took tremendous pride in providing his patients with excellent care and kindness for more than 30 years,” the obituary states.

The Menton case is one of several accounts of voyeurism in health care coming out of Howard County in recent months.

In February, a dental assistant, Delano G. Draine, was sentenced to seven years in prison for secretly recording and stealing intimate media from 37 women, including patients and coworkers.

Earlier this month, six women filed a class action lawsuit alleging that pharmacist Matthew Bathula, a Howard County resident, hacked hundreds of hospital computers to watch female doctors and medical residents undressing and pumping breastmilk. Bathula has not been charged with a crime.