Prosecutors brought new allegations of voyeurism Tuesday against a Vermont educator, who is now accused of violating the privacy of at least one student and two colleagues inside a prominent Catholic high school in Chittenden County.
This past spring, the music teacher at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington, Brian Lynam, was accused of secretly taking photos up a female student’s skirt in the hallways of the school.
He pled not guilty to that allegation in April, and is free on conditions pending trial.
Lynam, 32, was immediately placed on administrative leave from Rice when the allegations surfaced.
Tuesday, Lynam faced new accusations in court that he also took photos of two colleagues’ legs, buttocks, and undergarments—up a skirt. The photos were snapped in the staff break room and in the school’s photocopier room, according to detectives.
According to court paperwork obtained by necn affiliate NBC 5 News, those school employees were very upset to learn they were photographed—with one of them brought to tears—after police showed the women images seized from Lynam’s devices to confirm the photos were of them.
necn does not identify victims or suspected victims of sexual crimes without their prior consent.
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Lynam pleaded not guilty to the new charges and was ordered by Judge David Fenster to not contact or harass the alleged victims or to go onto the premises of Rice Memorial High School.
The Burlington Free Press reported Tuesday that Lynam is no longer an employee of Rice.
The newspaper did not immediately hear back from Lynam’s defense attorney about the terms of his client’s departure from the school, according to reporter Elizabeth Murray.
In court paperwork, South Burlington police detectives wrote that there were images of even more women in the suspect’s possession, though investigators have noted it’s often very difficult to identify victims in cases like this.
Cathleen Barkley heads HOPEWorks, a Burlington-based nonprofit that advocates for survivors of sexual crimes and works to end sexual violence. She spoke with necn about the case this spring.
"I hope that they're able to find support in each other and in the broader community and in their families," Barkley said of any potential victims of alleged voyeurism by Lynam. "And that people are believing their stories and lending them support and really condemning these actions so they don't feel like they're alone or at fault in any way."
