Former Wethersfield Principal Facing a High Bond in Voyeurism Case

WETHERSFIELD, CT — The former principal of a Wethersfield elementary school accused of secretly taking photographs of young girls with his cellphone remained in custody on Tuesday after failing to post a $175,000 bond, court records indicate.

John Bean, 46, was arraigned in Hartford Superior Court on Monday on voyeurism-related charges.

Bean resigned as principal of Highcrest Elementary School in late November following his arrest on Sept. 24.

The high bond was a result of a warrant for four counts each of voyeurism and risk of injury to a minor, to which he surrendered to state police on Monday.

Bean had initially been charged with second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer after allegedly taking secret photos of minors at a Hartford Wal-Mart. He had been free on $10,000 bond for those charges.

He is now to appear in both cases on March 21, according to judicial system records.

According to a police report, a uniformed officer assigned to the Wal-Mart was called into the store by security staffers because they had been watching a man, later identified as Bean, walking through several aisles.

Bean had no cart and appeared not to be shopping, but following children with his phone camera and then taking pictures of them when their mothers traveled out of the photo frames, police said in the report.
He was concealing his phone with a toy package, according to a police report.

Members of Homeland Security Investigations conducted a forensic examination of Bean's cell phone and located voyeuristic videos of female children being recorded in public places within the store. Homeland Security Investigations forwarded the information to the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit for further investigation, police said.

A review of the voyeuristic videos revealed that there were four videos containing upskirt footage of female children while they were shopping in public places such as Wal-Mart and other stores. Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that Bean was the one who had taken the upskirt videos of the female children, according to police.

Photo courtesy of Connecticut State Police