More recordings surface at El Campo school

No criminal charges have been filed in either case yet.

The fight video was recorded and posted to social media one day before the illicit images were captured in the auditorium. The auditorium video, however, was never distributed.

“Some girls had a fight in the girls locker room, some of the girls were not fully clothed, and someone videotaped the altercation, and then posted the video on social media,” El Campo Police Lt. Russell Urban said Tuesday.

The Feb. 27 incident is being investigated as a case of invasive visual recording, a crime punishable by up to two years in state jail and not less than six months, if a person is convicted.

Urban said he is not sure how old the girls appearing in the video are, but added some may be considered minors.

School officials said Tuesday they are aware of the video and are in the process of conducting their own inquiry.

Additional information was not available by press time.

Theatre case

El Campo police say more than one video appears to be on the now confiscated cell phone used to capture a video of two to four high school girls changing in the auditorium dressing room the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 28.

“Sgt. (Ryan) ... got into the phone and discovered numerous videos at several locations, not just at the high school where this guy was setting his phone up and attempting to video females,” Urban said.

Only a small number of the videos show girls or women unclothed to any degree, he added.

It’s unknown, however, whether any images were transferred from the cell phone to any other computer or distributed in any way.

“(The detective) has a lot of work to do on it yet,” Urban said.

Recording unsuspecting people in a changing area or bathroom is a state jail felony if the victim is an adult (age 17 or older), punishable by up to two years and not less than six months in prison along with a fine of up to $10,000. Charges could be enhanced depending on the age of the victim and multiple other factors.

The teen has been identified by El Campo ISD, but per district policy, neither his name nor punishment have been released. The state code allows students guilty of similar problems to be placed in the district’s alternative school. Police have not identified a suspect.