On Tuesday, Roger Springfield, the former media director for Syracuse University’s athletic department, pleaded not guilty to charges that he secretly videotaped male athletes in locker rooms.
According to ESPN, Springfield was arraigned on four counts of “unlawful surveillance.” Springfield was ” ordered to return to court Jan. 22 for a pretrial hearing.”
Prosecutors said a Syracuse employee noticed “clearly inappropriate material” on a video segment from Syracuse’s football team’s October 27 game against South Florida. The employee told his supervisor, and Syracuse notified police in December, which led to a more detailed investigation. On December 13, Syracuse fired Springfield.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said, as of now, there is no evidence that Springfield either “disseminated the recordings or still images to anyone else” or “engaged in any inappropriate sexual contact with any of the athletes.”
Fitzpatrick said investigators found “at least 10 other videos” that fell outside the statute of limitations and “investigators quickly discounted the fact that the footage might have been accidental.”
Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs at Syracuse, said the school has reached out to student-athletes impacted by the videos.
Springfield, the former media director alleged to have filmed the male athletes “was a sportscaster for 11 years at a Syracuse television station before he was hired” by Syracuse, where he worked for nearly a decade.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.