Middle School Teacher Arrested For Peeping Camera In The Bathroom
As if public schools across the country needed more bad publicity. Mask mandates, vaccinations, boosters, in-person learning, and remote learning – things have not gone well for the public school system. Now, things get a bit worse as a New York middle school teacher has been arrested after being accused of hiding a camera in a staff bathroom.
As if public schools across the country needed more bad publicity. Mask mandates, vaccinations, boosters, in-person learning, and remote learning – things have not gone well for the public school system. Now, things get a bit worse as a New York middle school teacher has been arrested after being accused of hiding a camera in a staff bathroom.
Patrick Morgan, 57, of Frankfort, New York, is (and now was) a fifth-grade teacher at Sand Creek Middle School, according to the Colonie Police Department. The middle school is located in New York’s South Colonie Central School District. Before being arrested, Morgan taught in the South Colonie District for 28 years.
According to the police department, a staff member found the camera, which had been disguised as a cell phone charger. When authorities took a look at the camera, they found numerous images and videos on the device of both male and female faculty members “in various stages of undress.” There are said to be near 30 adult victims shown on the camera and so far, thankfully, there have been no images of minors or students found.
Morgan was identified, according to investigators, as the culprit who set up the camera after they were able to recover some of the deleted videos that showed the arrest teacher learning how to use the camera. Upon his arrest, the teacher was charged with felonies of two counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree. Investigators say there will likely be more charges to follow.
Investigators searched the middle school but found no evidence of any other video recording devices. They are, though, looking at other locations to see if there are possible cameras set up. They are also investigating to see if any of the Sand Creek Middle School videos were distributed online or in any other place.
“We understand that news like this may generate mixed emotions and many questions within our school community,” South Colonie Superintendent David Perry said in a statement via Times Union. “We will do our best to share information as it becomes available to us, but our attention remains on the well-being of the individuals who may be directly impacted, our student body as a whole, and our staff members during this time.”
Police have obtained search warrants for the arrested teacher’s Frankfort, NY home as the investigation is ongoing. While they have been able to identify some of the victims, the police continue to work towards identifying them all. The school district is not only helping with the investigation, but they are also offering assistance to the arrested teacher’s victims.
Out of an abundance of caution, the school district canceled classes at Sand Creek today. Along with canceling classes, the district is addressing the horrific incident with Sand Creek faculty. They are providing the victim’s counselors and victim advocates from the South Colonie School District. The Albany County Crime Victim Center and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office have also reached out to offer their assistance as well.
Morgan’s arrest is not the only teacher arrested news seen in the past few days. A high school math teacher in the Hartsburg-Emden school district in Peoria, IL was recently arrested for child pornography. This follows another incident where a teacher was arrested in Baltimore County for sexual solicitation of a minor and displaying obscene material to the minor.
