Director of Campus Safety Services (CSS) Jeff Palmer announced in an all-campus email on Monday that a camera hidden in a single-stall bathroom in Upper Lasell Fitness Center had captured footage of bathroom users between noon and 5 p.m. on Jan. 16.
Palmer’s email stated that the camera was discovered and reported by a member of the campus community, and that the Williamstown Police Department (WPD) has worked with CSS to identify and notify potential victims of the incident.
WPD has identified a student believed to be responsible for the camera’s presence, Palmer wrote, adding that the student is currently not on campus.
CSS chose to send the campus-wide email now, Palmer said in an interview with the Record, because they received clearance from the WPD and the Berkshire County District Attorney’s office to inform the campus community of the incident at this point in their investigation.
The WPD and CSS used redacted still images to identify some of the individuals whom the camera captured, Palmer wrote, though the investigation has yet to identify six victims of the incident. In accordance with instructions from the DA’s office, Palmer told the Record in an interview, he did not specify how many victims the investigation had identified thus far.
Students who reached out to WPD Sergeant Shuan William because they were present in an Upper Lasell bathroom within the specified time window were told that the WPD would compare their College ID photo to the unidentified victims, and that the WPD would notify them if the images appeared to match.
In an email to the Record, WPD Chief Michael Ziemba wrote that the department’s investigation is ongoing. As a result, they did not share any information about the investigation or the accused student. “We are still interviewing victims and putting together supplemental reports to support our charges against the suspect,” he wrote.
Dean of the College Gretchen Long declined to comment on potential disciplinary action against the accused student. “Per federal law, the College does not share any student’s disciplinary record,” Long wrote in an email to the Record.
Those identified as victims were offered support resources from the Berkshire County District Attorney’s office as well as the College’s Title IX office, the PEACe office/Office of Intimate Violence Prevention & Response, and Integrative Wellbeing Services.
