Teacher Hides Spy Cameras In School Toilet, Records Videos Of Victims As Young As 4

A children’s music school owner in upstate New York has pleaded guilty to 74 counts of child pornography for recording and producing hundreds of child porn videos over a period of seven years, the attorney’s office said.

Philip M. Close, 43, of Rochester pleaded guilty Friday on 61 counts of production of child pornography and 13 counts of possession of material containing child pornography, according to a news release.

Close admitted that he has produced hundreds of videos of child pornography involving 61 identified minor victims between 2012 and 2019. The youngest victim was four years old.

The attorney’s office attested that Close worked as a teacher in a music school from 2012 to 2016, during which he recorded the naked genitals of young girls by installing spy cameras in the school’s bathroom.

In 2016, he opened his own venture, “Close School of Music” where he provided private music lessons to children of all ages. During that time, Close again installed hidden spy cameras throughout the school and secretly recorded the students, parents and other teachers.

Some video recordings showed Close inappropriately touching his students and himself during the lessons. He also placed two spy cameras in the school’s only bathroom: one under the toilet and one hidden in a watercooler facing the toilet. “The defendant intentionally positioned these cameras to record the naked genitals of young girls when they stood up from the toilet,” according to the release.

In December 2019, a mother with two children at the school reported the discovery of a video camera attached to a toilet in the school’s restroom. She pulled out the camera, which was found facing the toilet seat and called 911, reported local news outlet Democrat And Chronicle. Close reportedly admitted to the police that he had installed the cameras.

A search warrant executed at the property during the arrest yielded 13 devices containing images and videos of child pornography.

“The defendant occupied a position of trust with respect to his students,” U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy said. “His perverse violation of that trust, together with our duty to protect our children, warrant the defendant being held fully accountable for all that he did, and full accountability is precisely what today’s plea ensures,” Kennedy added.

Close is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16. He faces maximum sentencing of 2,090 years in prison and an $18,500,000 fine.