A 31-year-old man accused of planting a camera inside the girls’ bathroom of a Florida high school he previously worked as a janitor has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the offense.
In a statement on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida said Derremy Jerrell Walker’s prison sentence came after a jury in June found him guilty of two counts of using, or attempting to use, children to produce sexually explicit videos.
According to PEOPLE, the November 2019 incident occurred at the Oviedo High School where Walker was employed as a janitor. The cellphone, which Walker planted under a sink, was found by two 15-year-old female students, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the statement.
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The device was recording at the time of discovery, and the students who found it notified faculty members who in turn got in touch with the police. Walker was subsequently apprehended and school authorities terminated his employment.
This wasn’t the first time Walker reportedly planted a video in the girls’ bathroom as he had initially done that twice in the same month. He was also caught on camera committing the said offenses. And besides that, the accused man had also initially planted a camera in the bathroom the school’s faculty used.
Officials said the girls discovered the camera 15 minutes after it started actively recording, and 12 students who weren’t aware the device had been planted, were caught in the footage. “Mr. Walker did more than just produce horror; he stole the innocence and trust of these young victims,” FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson said in the statement.
“We are pleased with the sentence handed down in this case and will continue efforts to protect the children in our communities from sexual exploitation and abuse.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Walker will also serve a lifetime term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
