Youth coordinator for St. Ann Catholic Church, anyone surprised? How about you? You in the back, no? Alright then. Story out of Blue Earth, Minnesota:
A former Janesville basketball coach and choir teacher is facing numerous felony charges after police say he used a disguised camera to film naked boys in a locker room.
Zachary Patrick Roberts, 28, was charged Monday with four felony counts of interfering with the privacy of a minor and four felony counts of stalking a minor with sexual or aggressive intent, according to a criminal complaint filed in Faribault County District Court.
The chain of events started Dec. 14, 2015, when the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton boys basketball team played a game against United South Central at the high school in Wells, according to the criminal complaint.
After the game, the Janesville team went into the locker room to shower and change before returning home. One of the players was looking for a pen to write down a play and got one from the gym bag belonging to Roberts, their coach. The player then discovered the pen was actually a camera, according to the complaint.
The players tried to view the files in the camera but couldn't. School authorities were alerted and initiated an internal investigation. As part of that probe, Roberts turned the camera over to school authorities, who in turn provided it to the Janesville Police Department.
The police chief, Dave Ulmen, viewed the files and found "significant evidence" on two. The first was 15 minutes and included footage of the pen camera being placed and manipulated so it was focused on the entrance to the showers, the complaint said. As the video continued, unclothed boys were seen going in and out of the shower, the complaint said.
The second file was 13 minutes and included more footage of unclothed boys. Toward the end of it, the video showed the players discovering the camera, the complaint said. The other files were either unremarkable or couldn't be accessed.
Roberts, a Janesville native, worked as a choir teacher at the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School for six years. His last day with the district was Jan. 4, after the school board accepted his resignation, according to meeting records.
Roberts was a student council adviser and helped direct musicals and show choir for the district in addition to being a coach. He also served as a youth coordinator for St. Ann Catholic Church in Janesville. Cont.
Story from - Mankato Free Press
Image from - Wikimedia Commons
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