WOBURN MA April 13 2018  — When a hidden camera was found in an employee bathroom at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center on March 29, hospital security and police didn’t have to look far for a major clue about who placed the camera there.

The first two videos recorded by the camera clearly showed Michael McDermott, 21, of Tewksbury, as he set up the camera and aimed it at a toilet, according to a police report.

The video even showed McDermott’s hospital ID, according to a police report.

Police reports identify McDermott as a UMass Lowell nursing student who had been working at the hospital and shadowing a nurse.

When he was interviewed by hospital security, McDermott first denied knowing anything about the pen camera that a housekeeper found hidden inside a toilet paper roll in the unisex employee bathroom, according to a police report.

But McDermott eventually admitted to security that he placed the camera in the bathroom earlier the same morning, according to a police report.

Security then confiscated McDermott’s ID badge and told him to gather his belongings and get off of hospital property, according to a police report.

Police investigated and soon obtained a warrant charging McDermott with three counts of photographing an unsuspecting nude person and one count of possession of a wiretapping device.

McDermott was arraigned on those charges Tuesday in Woburn District Court, where Judge Timothy Gailey released McDermott on personal recognizance, but ordered him to wear a GPS device and remain on house arrest at 19 Jefferson Ave.

Gailey also ordered McDermott to stay at least 100 yards away from the hospital, according to court records.

McDermott did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Police reports say the camera was hidden in a toilet paper roll that was on a table near a toilet in a locked, employee-only bathroom in the hospital’s 6 East unit. It was discovered by a housekeeper, who took the camera and reported it to her supervisor. Police reports say the bathroom’s door is locked so that only employees can use it.

A review of 24 video files found on the pen camera revealed that the first two clearly showed McDermott, according to a police report.

“Based on McDermott’s movements in the videos, it appears that he was trying to adjust the camera so that the lens was facing toward the toilet,” according to a police report.

Four of the video files showed female employees using the toilet, with two of the videos showing the same employee, according to a police report. All three victims’ buttocks could be seen in the videos, according to a police report.

Police identified the women captured in the videos and confirmed that none of them gave McDermott permission to film them, according to a police report.

A hospital spokesman said McDermott was immediately fired when security identified him as the person who placed the camera.

“(Hospital) security also conducted a thorough search of the facility and found no additional devices,” a hospital spokesman said in a prepared statement. “It has been determined this device was placed in the restroom for only a brief period of time before it was discovered. No patients or visitors were impacted by this incident.”

The spokesman said the hospital considers the safety and privacy of employees, patients and visitors a top priority, and that the hospital will continue work with Burlington police as they investigate.

“The university is aware of the charges and will take appropriate action,” according to a statement released by a UMass Lowell spokeswoman, who said privacy laws prohibit the school for providing more specifics on student judicial proceedings.

McDermott is due back in Woburn District Court on May 23.

 lowellsun

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