A 19-year-old Rochester Institute of Technology student was taken into custody Tuesday after investigators say he planted a hidden recording device inside a residence hall bathroom, capping off a month-long investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Avery Bird, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was charged with unlawful surveillance and taken to the Monroe County Jail to await arraignment.
According to 13WHAM, investigators determined that the device was set up two nights before it was found, placing it on September 16. RIT's Public Safety Department discovered the device on September 18 and alerted the sheriff's office, Sgt. Brendan Hurley said, according to the same report. From there, deputies worked for roughly a month before identifying Bird as a suspect and making the arrest.
The case was also covered by WHEC, which reported that the device was set up in an unnamed residence hall bathroom before Public Safety found it two days later and looped in the sheriff's office. That station's report notes that deputies spent about a month investigating before arresting Bird on Tuesday.
University Says Broader Search Turned Up Nothing Else
RIT confirmed that Bird has been removed from the campus community following the arrest. The university also said it carried out a broad search of campus and that no additional recording devices have been found, per the same WHEC account.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is still working to identify all potential victims in the case, and the investigation remains ongoing. RIT's Henrietta campus, located just south of Rochester, enrolls about 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students, as reported by the Democrat and Chronicle, which also reported that Bird is accused of secretly recording people in the dormitory restroom.
The Charge and Its Legal Basis
Bird faces a charge of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a crime defined under New York Penal Law § 250.45, according to the New York State Senate's published statute.
Cases involving hidden recording devices on college campuses have surfaced elsewhere in recent months. A former Amherst College student faced 20 charges after police said he placed a secret recording device inside a campus bathroom, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. In a separate case, a former Anne Arundel Community College student was sentenced to three years of probation for placing a camera in a campus bathroom, as reported by the Baltimore Sun.
No information has been released about Bird's attorney, plea, bail status, or an upcoming court date. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has not detailed whether the device captured any recordings or how many people may have been affected, and the investigation into the case continues.
