Highwood Man Identified As School Bathroom Hidden Camera Suspect

NORTHFIELD, IL — A warrant has been issued for a man police suspect hid a camera in a staff bathroom at Sunset Ridge School, authorities said. Staff at the Northfield elementary school discovered a cell phone taped to the inside of a trashcan in the staff bathroom Tuesday afternoon, according to school officials. It appeared to be recording through a small hole.

Police said David Garcia-Espinal, 40, of Highwood, was identified after they reviewed security camera footage. Prosecutors approved a felony charge of unauthorized video recording for Garcia-Espinal, who had worked as a custodian and cook for a district contractor for more than three years, according to police and school officials.

Although the camera was found in a staff bathroom, district employees may not have been the bathroom's only occupants, according to Sunset Ridge District 29 Superintendent Ed Stange.

"We have heard from both parents and students that there have been circumstances where some students have used the staff bathroom," Stange told parents in a letter Saturday.

The superintendent said the school's principal had met with sixth, seventh and eighth grade students "to address their questions and concerns in an age-appropriate manner" and suggested parents do the same. Counselors will continue to be made available to support students and staff, he said.

Garcia-Espinal had been assigned to work at the school through two third-party vendors — as a cook with food service provider Organic Life and as a custodian for the Smith Maintenance Company — since August 2016, according to Stange. He said Garcia-Espinal had never been assigned to Middlefork School, and background checks by both companies did not reveal evidence of criminal activity.

Stange said Garcia-Espinal had left the building before police got a chance to question him. Garcia-Espinal's electronic access to the campus was suspended, and his association with the school has been terminated, according to the superintendent.

In Illinois, the offense of unauthorized video recording in a restroom is a class 4 felony if the person being recorded is an adult and a class 3 felony if the victim is under 18.

Northfield police Sgt. Michael Hutensky said Monday that Garcia-Espinal was not in custody and officers were "actively attempting to locate him."

Earlier: Staff Finds Bathroom Camera At Northfield Elementary School: Cops.