Probation for Coach in Towson Locker Room Peeping Tom Case

TOWSON, MD — A former diving coach for Towson University tearfully apologized in court Wednesday for using a cell phone to record student-athletes’ conversations, while the students said their trust was betrayed.

The Towson University Police Department began investigating after the administration was informed Oct. 16, 2015, that a cell phone found inside the swimming and diving team’s Burdick Pool locker room may have been capturing video and audio recordings of the student-athletes, Patch previously reported.

Maureen Mead, 43, set up the phone to hear what the divers were talking about in the locker room, prosecutors said in a court hearing where a plea deal was announced. Mead will serve three years on probation in the peeping tom incident, WJZ reports.

University officials fired Mead in November, one day after charges were filed against her in the case.

She was indicted in November on one count of “interception of communication,” one count of “peeping tom,” and one count of “altering physical evidence” related to a crime.

The seven women in the locker room at the time of the filming spoke in court of how their trust was betrayed.

Administrators notified the campus police immediately after finding out about the issue, and the investigation is ongoing, the statement said.

University officials said they reached out to the swimming and diving team members in case they needed counseling or other support.

“At Towson University our students’ welfare and well-being continues to be our top priority,” the statement from the university said.

The investigation comes about a year after a former Towson professor, Rabbi Barry Freundel, was charged with voyeurism. Freundel recorded dozens of women, including some of his students, undressing in a ritual Jewish bath in Georgetown, where he occasionally took students on field trips.

Police allegedly found secret recording devices in his office at Towson University, where he taught in addition to Georgetown. Freundel pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and is serving a six-year sentence.

»Screenshot of former Towson University coach Maureen Mead, from WJZ TV