Chester Thai ’14: The Newtown Police detained an unknown photographer who was taking pictures on his phone during the girls Inter-Ac swim meet at Episcopal’s natatorium on Tuesday, February 4.
Joe Shanahan, Manager of Campus Safety, said “the system worked the way you hoped it would.” He explained that “Some of the swimmers started to get the feeling that one of the reporters in the pool area was taking inappropriate photos. And they said something to their coach, and their coach approached the swim director, and he approached one of our coaches who contacted me and Mr. Brian Fish from campus safety […] I approached the gentleman and asked him to step outside.”
Brian Hecker, swim coach, commented, “The response to this unfortunate situation by all involved was textbook […] Joe Shanahan and his staff quickly handled the situation.”
“I asked to see his phone [and] asked him what he was doing,” continued Shanahan. “After looking at the photos I didn’t feel they were appropriate. We called the Newtown police, and they detained him and brought him down to the station.”
The photographer has since received a citation for disorderly conduct. “After consulting with the Delaware County’s District Attorney’s office,” stated Chief Lunn of the Newtown Police Department, “the only appropriate charge that would fit was disorderly conduct.”
Photo Courtesy of Betty Berry
Emily Rhodes ‘14, co-captain of the girls swim team who participated in the meet, explained, “This man has been frequenting Inter-Ac swim meets for years. His job is actually to interview the GA swimmers, so he usually stands behind the starting blocks. This year, some of the Irwin’s swimmers claimed that they saw him taking photos on his phone. His phone was searched, and I imagine they found a fair amount of photos of the underage girls’ behinds as they bent over to start. I don’t think any of the EA swimmers suspected they were being photographed in that way by a stranger.”
“It’s a little frightening,” Rhodes added. “Those photos could be posted somewhere on the internet, for all we know.”
Shanahan stated, “Based on my prior experience I knew immediately that he was up to no good. Through his body language—he was extremely nervous.” However, Shanahan acknowledged that he could not provide a description of the man because the case was now a police matter.
“I hate to even get into a description because it could be anybody,” said Shanahan. “You never want to have a stereotyped description of somebody. It’s always best if you don’t have a predetermined image in your mind of what the bad guy looks like because it could be anybody.”
“Situations like these occur more often than people think,” noted Rhodes. “I know it’s difficult to monitor every person who works on deck at a swim meet, but unfortunately this is becoming something of a pattern, especially with our pool’s open architecture and prime location immediately in front of the building’s main entrance.”
Shanahan remarked, “The good thing is the girls, the athletes, had each others’ backs. They were looking out for each other, they weren’t afraid to say something to an adult, to a coach.”
“That’s what we would hope. That’s one of the main messages I’d like to get out to the entire EA community. You generally know what looks normal. If you see something that doesn’t, just let us know. We’ll, in a professional manner, just check it out and make sure that everything is ok. You can have all the drills in the world, but it’s never going to replace a person who’s just proactive about their safety and everyone else’s safety.”
Shanahan concluded, “Because those athletes were watching out for one another, we caught this guy who was probably up to no good and we’re going to ensure that he never sets foot on this campus again.”