BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston man was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly filming boys in the restrooms at Boston Latin School.
Eric Tran Thai, 36, was indicted on four counts of sexual exploitation of children. Thai was arrested on March 11 and charged by complaint. He was ordered detained by the court on March 19 and has been in custody since.
In Feb. 2018, two separate Boston College students reported to the police that they had been videotaped without their knowledge or consent while they were using the men’s restrooms on the Boston College campus, according to court documents. Police located and spoke with Thai, who was then arrested on state charges.
It is alleged that while speaking with police, Thai admitted to “taking some pictures” of a man in the stall next to him without the man’s consent. He allegedly further admitted to engaging in such activity for about a year.
A subsequent search of Thai’s bag is said to have yielded several covert camera devices, including faux smoke detectors, a water bottle containing a small cube recording device, and a pair of sunglasses outfitted with a built-in camera.
During a search of Thai’s home in March 2018, law enforcement officials say they seized about 26 computer hard drives, 20 thumb drives, 27 covert and regular cameras, 14 computers, iPads, and cell phones, and multiple SD and Sim cards.
Prosecutors say forensic investigators later found several folders labeled: BU, MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Bunker Hill, Boston Latin School, along with a number of different malls, airports, and foreign country locations.
Video in folders labeled “Boston Latin High School” contained about 45 secretly recorded videos of male students in various states of dress using the urinals and stalls in a Boston Latin School boys’ bathroom, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say the videos show Thai sitting in a bathroom stall at Boston Latin School recording individuals in adjacent stalls or at the urinals through various secret recording methods.
In some videos, Thai allegedly held a camera over the top of the partition between the bathroom stalls and videotaping from overhead. In other instances, he appears to hide a small camera inside of his backpack, place the backpack on the bathroom floor and videotape individuals in the adjacent bathroom stall from under the stall’s partition.
While recording, prosecutors say Thai would simultaneously view what the camera was recording on a cellphone or a tablet device in his possession.
Based on the evidence, Thai was charged with sexual exploitation of children in violation of federal law.
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