Man Accused Of Filming Boys In Boston Latin Bathroom, Denies It

BOSTON — The Boston man accused of secretly filming boys in the restrooms at Boston Latin School pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment in Boston federal court. Eric Tran Thai, 36, was indicted on four counts of sexual exploitation of children earlier. Thai was arrested on March 11 and charged by complaint. He was ordered detained by the court on March 19. But, Tuesday a judge modified the detention order to release him to 24-hour home confinement with location monitoring.

He’ll be released upon confirmation that there are no computers in his home, according to U.S. Attorney Lelling's office. He's slated to return to court on May 14.

According to court documents, on Feb. 6 and Feb. 27, 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. Following the Feb. 27, 2018, report, police located and spoke with Thai, who was then arrested on state charges in Middlesex County Superior Court.

Police said while speaking with him, Thai admitted to “taking some pictures” of a man in the stall next to him without the man’s consent. They said he also admitted to taking pictures like that for about a year. Thai was arrested on state charges and his bag was searched; in it, police said they found 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 on March 1 that year, law enforcement seized some 26 computer hard drives, 20 thumb drives, 27 covert and regular cameras, 14 computers, iPads, and cell phones, and multiple SD and Sim cards.

During forensic analysis of the recovered items, investigators found several folders labeled: BU, MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Bunker Hill, Boston Latin High School, and several different malls, airports, and locations in different countries. Police said because there was so much data they're still going through it all.

The U.S. Attorney's office said there were folders labeled “Boston Latin High School” that contained about 45 surreptitiously-recorded videos of male students in various states of dress using the urinals and stalls in a Boston Latin High School boys’ bathroom. The videos appear to have been created on 10 separate dates between February and December 2017.

The videos show Thai sitting in a bathroom stall at Boston Latin High School recording individuals in adjacent stalls or at the urinals through different secret recording methods. In some videos, Thai appears to hold 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, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

While recording, it appears that Thai would simultaneously view what the camera was recording on a cellphone or a tablet device in his possession. Based on this evidence, Thai was charged with sexual exploitation of children in violation of federal law.

Each charge of sexual exploitation of children provides for a mandatory minimum 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about this case to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 617-748-3274.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).