Former Principal Admits To Videotaping Teenage Girls While They Showered

The former principal of the South Royalton School in Vermont pleaded guilty to secretly videotaping underage girls in his bathroom on Tuesday.

Dean Sterns, 56, admitted to several charges against him, including voyeurism and sexual exploitation of a minor. After being convicted, he faced a maximum of 15 years behind the bars with all but five years suspended, as part of the plea deal that he struck with the state.

"We understand that the members of the White River Valley and the SU community remain very angry and emotional about this situation and the impact that it has had and continues to have on our students and their families. The statement also provided resources for mental health services in the community,” the superintendent for the White River Valley Supervisory Union released a statement regarding the plea agreement, CBS affiliated WCAX reported.

He had initially pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of voyeurism and five counts of possession of child pornography. He was released on a $25,000 bond.

Sterns was arrested last year after investigators found hundreds of pictures and video of partially or fully nude girls aged between 15 and 17 years at his home in Sharon, Vermont. He was accused of hiding spying equipment inside devices such as cell phone chargers and clocks inside the bathroom of his residence, which were used to record five teenage girls while they took showers.

One of the victims, aged 16, who was temporarily staying at Stern’s house found the hidden devices and reported them to the authorities. She told them at the time that she believed she was being videotaped.

After his initial court hearing a year ago, Sterns resigned from his post. All the incidents took place in the fall of 2017 and none of them occurred inside the premises of the school.

Deputy Windsor County State's Attorney Heidi Remick said her office will ask the judge to impose maximum prison sentence for Sterns.

"The state took this conduct very seriously. I understand this is a devastating abuse of privacy and abuse of trust and that will be part of the state's argument when we ask for a substantial period of time to serve as part of the resolution,” Remick said.

In another instance, a Lynn Camp High School teacher, Melinda Abner, filed a lawsuit against the Knox County Schools district on Dec. 3, alleging the principal of the school, Anthony Pennington, repeatedly harassed her sexually and retaliated against her when she rebuffed his advances.

“Pennington engaged in repeated sexual harassment of Abner, including ... inappropriate sexual remarks and requests, placing his hands on Abner’s body, pulling Abner onto his lap, and pushing his erect penis against her," the lawsuit read, Lexington Herald reported.