Greenport Student Took 'Inappropriate' Photos Of Girl, 17: Cops

GREENPORT, NY — A 16-year old Greenport High School student was arrested after he used his cellphone to take "inappropriate" photos of a 17-year-old female classmate, police said.

According to Southold Town Police, the teen was arrested Wednesday and charged with two felony counts of second-degree unlawful surveillance and one misdemeanor count of second-degree unlawful surveillance.

Southold Police were alerted Dec. 19 after a teacher at Greenport High School observed the teen "surreptitiously" using his cellphone to take the photos.

The phone was subsequently turned over to police, who used a forensic process and discovered photos and videos of two more female victims.

The arrested teen, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was arraigned in Southold Justice Court Wednesday.

School officials also immediately suspended him and he remains out of school.

The student's family posted bail at his arraignment; he is due back at Southold Justice Court later this month.

The mother of one of the female victims spoke to Patch about her daughter's experience. In order to protect the identity of her daughter, Patch is not releasing her name.

She said it has been "two weeks of really tough times" working with the parents of the other female victim to see that the male student was arrested— something she believes might never have happened if she and the other parents had not fought for their daughters' rights.

The mom said she received a call from Greenport High School Principal Gary Kalish as she was wrapping Christmas gifts. "He said, 'Your daughter is okay, but there's been an incident at school...I don't know how to break it to you,'" she said.

The mother said a substitute teacher in her daughter's class, a retired police officer, suspected that the male student was "videotaping up her dress. She had no idea."

Her daughter actually thought she'd hit the student's phone out of his hand, picked it up and handed it back to him, the mom said. According to the girl's mother, school officials allegedly saw the video but erased it. They also allegedly gave the teen's phone back to his parents.

The district, she said, asked if she'd like to tell her daughter about the incident.

When she told her daughter, she said, the teen was shocked.

"It was such a violation."

The mom said she immediately called the police about the incident, because "It's a crime." The girl's parents told police they wanted the male student's phone retrieved and charges pressed.

Frustrated by what she felt was a lack of action, the mom said she "felt as though everyone had better start protecting my daughter. This is a crime. Why weren't they acting like it?"

Once the phone was retrieved, photos and videos of two other female victims were found, but the mom said her daughter's video is still missing.

The victim's mother also is angry that no one walked her daughter to her car, as she had asked. In addition, the mom claimed, the social worker failed to reach out until the worker was alerted by the parent of the other victim.

The mom thinks the school district should release more information to raise awareness and keep students safe from incidents of sexual harassment (including catcalling), as well as more serious issues like the taping incident in question.

"These girls have to be empowered," she said. "This needs to be put out there, talked about. And if the school district is hiding it, that can't happen."

Her daughter, she said, loves sports, GPO TV, photography and is loved by all.

"She's that kid that gets along with everyone."

What happened to her daughter was painful to her as a mother.

"It just breaks my heart," she said. "The school has an opportunity to stand up and protect our kids, show kids who are doing the right thing that they're protected. It disgusts me, that the school is not taking care of this the way they should have."

Greenport School Superintendent David Gamberg did not immediately return a request for comment.

Patch file photo.