A Wisconsin high school coach accused of planting a camera in a girls’ locker room has admitted to secretly recording students for two years.
Brian Kitzman, 38, estimates that he recorded approximately 18 students, Janesville Police Chief David Moore said Monday during a news conference.
Kitzman was working as a track and field coach at Craig High School in Janesville, Wis., and had been the head coach of the girls’ and boys’ swim teams at the school for nine years, ending in 2017.
Moore said investigators are still determining how many students were caught on camera during the two-year timeframe, which came to an end on Friday when Kitzman was caught.
“It is not lost on us the breach of trust that has occurred, but what we can offer is a thorough and prompt investigation, a transparent investigation,” Moore said.
Moore added that the recordings were “crimes of opportunity” and specific students were not targeted. He said Kitzman would find places where he could put cameras in locker rooms and hide them there.
On Friday, a student spotted her towel that had been missing for weeks in a locker that was secured by a Craig High School administrative lock. When a staff member helped her open the locker, a GoPro camera was located, according to Moore.
The camera was then turned over to the school resource officer and Kitzman was quickly identified as the suspect.
He was arrested while boarding a bus headed to a track meet, and was booked into Rock County jail on counts of possession of child pornography, violation of privacy and representations depicting nudity.
Kitzman was also previously a collegiate swimmer, competing for Carroll University in Wisconsin during the 2003-04 season.
Kitzman, who has worked in the School District of Janesville since 2004, has been placed on administrative leave. Moore said the district will have to wait for its investigation to end before making any decision on his employment.
A coach has admitted to planting a video camera in the girls locker room, recording about 18 students, and the school “will have to wait for its investigation to end before making any decision on his employment”? Sorry, but that response by the administration is absolutely pathetic.
As one of the track/xc athletes on this team, we wholeheartedly agree and feel as if the school betrayed us. Especially since he was fired from his girls swim position for peeking in their locker room