A former maintenance employee with the Nitro Swimming club in Austin, Texas has been arrested and accused of hiding a camera in a girls locker room at the swimming facility, according to the owners of the club.
Kenneth Lee Briggs, 42, was an employee with the club for just under a year, between July 2013 and March 2014. Nitro’s owners, Mike and Tracy Koleber, sent an email to club parents this week, reporting that the Department of Homeland Security had investigated Briggs and “uncovered evidence that he used a hidden camera to photograph people in the girl’s locker room and in the family restroom at Nitro’s Cedar Park facility at some point during his employment.”
According to club management, Briggs passed all standard background checks when he was hired, but was fired in March of 2014 when the club learned that he had misused company credit cards.
The team email says Homeland Security investigators approached the club this year as part of their investigation into Briggs, and that the club was asked to identify headshots taken from the camera allegedly hidden by Briggs. The email says the photos were “of such poor quality—extremely grainy and of very low resolution—that it has been impossible to identify anyone in any photo.”
The Kolebers wrote that Briggs is currently in jail and will be charged soon in federal court.
USA Swimming said that Briggs, as a club maintenance worker “is not and has never been a member of USA Swimming.” USA Swimming’s official banned list is only used for members of the swimming federation.
Last December, former Nitro coach Tim O’Brien was added to that banned list when he was charged with “indecency with a child.” O’Brien was accused of having a relationship with an underage swimmer from at least the time she was 15 until she was in her early-20s.
Nitro passed along this statement about Briggs, which echoed what was included in the email to the team:
“We take great pride in the trust that families place in us, and we work very hard to ensure that trust is earned each and every day. Unfortunately, it appears that a former employee—who passed all background checks upon hiring—breached that trust.
“U.S. Homeland Security is investigating this former maintenance employee—Kenneth Lee Briggs—who worked for our company from mid 2013 to early 2014. They uncovered evidence that he used a hidden camera to photograph people in a locker room at our Cedar Park facility at some point during his employment. To date, it has been impossible to identify anyone in any photo.
“We are working closely with Homeland Security to build a case against this individual. We will not rest until this person, if convicted, is brought to justice.
“The safety, security and privacy of our swimmers are always our top priorities. In more than 10 years of operation, this is the first such incident.
“We are deeply sorry this happened.”
Mugshots has his arrest for possession of child pornography with intent to distribute in November 2016 . So it has taken this long for authorities to back check his employment .
I don’t know why the Homeland Security bods are involved but they are not very good. Its the first thing investigators do in building a profile & assessing past offences , victims & networks .
Correction . Offense date is 3/11 / 16 & booking date is 3/6/2017 . Currently in Harris County Jail & awaiting trial ( it seems) .
I always have trouble with the US dating order & the only way we remember it is via 9/11 as Sept not Nov .
It really is frustrating the amount of red tape these agencies have to go through while building a case. I assume there were all kinds of bureaucratic hoops to jump through, etc. Also, unfortunately, it’s almost certain that there are more of this type of offense being flagged than there are employees to keep up with them. I’m sure there’s a fairly significant backlog, and it seems likely that at least one reason they took so long to act is because they were already taking action on other instances of child exploitation that came to their attention sooner.
I think this is an extreme case, but I knew a guy in the Navy who got in trouble for this kind… Read more »
Being in state custody makes for a far more difficult defence compared to someone who can pay bail ( if available) . Also if found innocent how do they get that time back?
Im not sure where this locker room camera fits into the above arrest .Plus absolutely no idea why Homeland Securityis involved but my guess would be unaccompanied child trafficking in Texas .
Not commenting on the substance of the case…but why is DHS involved? Homeland Security, vs one of its component agencies like ICE or ATF, would normally only be involved if the case involved drugs, smuggling, and/or the financial aspect of those crimes.
I assume there’s far more to the Briggs case than just the hidden camera issue.
DHS also gets involved a variety of other areas, but besides drugs, smuggling, and their associated financial aspects, the only other areas I could see them being involved on this would be if Briggs was being investigated for terrorism or human trafficking.
Weird.
DHS also deals with internet child exploitation. My guess is he was involoved in that and the videos were found when they examined his devices.
Looks like Nitro better step up their screening process and/or keep a better eye on their employees. Wow. Any other clubs out there with more than one of these creeps caught?
I don’t know how they could have screened this guy any better without being excessively invasive. Nothing came up on the background check. I assume he provided references, past employment information, etc. during the hiring process. Are swim clubs supposed to hire a private investigator every time someone applies for a job? I’m really curious about how they can “step up their screening process.”
It sucks, but the fact is that this guy just slipped through the cracks. It’s awful that young girls have been victimized, but if he hasn’t been caught before, a background check isn’t gonna tell you anything.
“The safety, security and privacy of our swimmers are always our top priorities. In more than 10 years of operation, this is the first such incident.”
Ummm…Tim O’Brien???
Different situation isn’t it?
Both situations are very much the same. These young athletes were placed in environment that is far from “safe and secure”.
This statement shows a tremendous lack of integrity and transparency.
Little correction there. The Koleber’s are not lacking in the integrity and transparency department. Take my word for it. Very honest, good people; the best their is.
Whatever gets you through the night….
Do you even know the Koleber’s? They care very, very deeply for their swimmers; they conducted thorough background checks and checked all of the records; the guy was clean. Your “lack of integrity and transparency” statement is utter bull.The Koleber’s are some of the hardest working and genuine people out there. I bet you are one of Nitro’s competitors and trying to sully their reputations.