Roger Springfield was arraigned Tuesday morning in Onondaga County Court on four counts of unlawful surveillance. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court Jan. Prosecutors said the charges stem from at least four secret videos that the year-old made between the spring of and November Authorities said the videos were made in the locker rooms of the football team and the men's lacrosse and soccer teams.
Prosecutors said that between and , roughly football, soccer and lacrosse players were filmed by Springfield. But prosecutors said the spying may precede that time frame. But Cali said that is irrelevant because Springfield filmed the athletes for "his own personal use.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the investigation began after a Syracuse employee noticed "clearly inappropriate material" on an "exceptionally long" segment of locker-room footage on a video from Syracuse's football game against South Florida on Oct. The district attorney said the employee brought it to the attention of his supervisor, the school notified Fitzpatrick's office and Syracuse police in early December and an investigation was begun.
After reviewing the tapes, Springfield's home and the media room at Manley Field House were searched. Springfield was questioned by detectives, suspended and then fired by the university on Dec. Fitzpatrick said the charges stemmed from videos that included the Louisville football game on Nov. Fitzpatrick said there is no evidence that Springfield disseminated the recordings or still images to anyone else. There also is no evidence that Springfield engaged in any inappropriate sexual contact with any of the athletes, the district attorney said.
Authorities said at least 10 other videos were found, including one made in Massachusetts and one shot in Akron, Ohio, but they fell outside the statute of limitations. Syracuse police are still investigating, police Chief Frank Fowler said. Fitzpatrick said investigators quickly discounted the fact that the footage might have been accidental.
