EL CAMPO, Texas – An El Campo ISD contract employee is behind bars after police say he hid a camera in a boys’ restroom inside the elementary school where he worked.
Scott Gelardi, 42, is charged with possession of child pornography with intent to promote child pornography and invasive visual recording.
Maintenance workers replacing toilet paper dispensers discovered a small device beneath one of the dispensers. They weren’t sure what it was so they consulted with the IT department who confirmed that it was a camera.
El Campo Police reviewed the camera footage and said it contained videos and photographs of unidentified male students. Investigators matched the timestamps on the camera recording with school surveillance video to identify who hid the camera. Gelradi even captured his own face on camera when he placed it there.
A director of food services for the district through a contract with Aramark, Gelradi had access to every campus in the district, according to El Campo Police Chief Terry Stanphill. He was arrested Tuesday morning when he arrived for work at Northside Elementary School.
The district says it hasn’t found any other cameras.
“If it’s not necessary we’re not going to make an effort to identify them (the victims). There’s no need in it. We have seen nothing to indicate contact between the suspect and any student," Stanphill said. “There is still a lot of evidence to be examined so we don’t know for sure but at this point, I’d say no.”
In a statement to KPRC 2, Aramark wrote:
“Today we were made aware of very disturbing allegations involving one of our associates. Aramark immediately launched an investigation into these allegations and the associate in question is no longer employed by Aramark. We will fully cooperate with the authorities on their investigation into this matter.”
El Campo ISD officials wrote in a statement to KPRC 2 that they were cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
“El Campo Independent School District is saddened, disturbed, and angered by the alleged actions of this individual,” school district officials wrote. “We thank and applaud the El Campo Police Department for its work related to this incident.”