The facility, Premier Athletics, offers a range of athletic programs to young women, with a focus on cheerleading, gymnastics and tumbling lessons. It is located roughly 20 miles south of Nashville.
Officers at the Franklin Police Department released an update regarding the inquiry currently underway on Thursday, one week after Premier Athletics’ general manager discovered the camera and turned it over to the law enforcement agency. Police initially announced their investigation into the incident on Tuesday. At the time, authorities noted that the recording device was “linked to an employee of the business.” The male suspect has not been named publicly.
After evaluating the camera’s footage, detectives assigned to the investigation were able to identify 47 of 60 women seen on video and are continuing to review recordings as they work to distinguish the remaining individuals. A majority of the women identified are younger than 18, according to Franklin Police’s most recent update, and their guardians have been contacted. Detectives say two of the women who appeared in recordings were partially undressed.
Footage recorded inside the Premier Athletics facility suggests that the individual responsible for operating the hidden device was “intermittently staging the camera to capture video in the restroom since September,” police said. Evidence collected so far during the investigation indicates that the suspect did not target other private sections of the sports training establishment.
“The girls changing and restroom at the center of this investigation is located inside the Premier Athletics suite,” authorities noted in the police update released Thursday. “There is no current evidence to suggest that other restrooms or private areas in the multi-tenant facility were compromised.”
The police department seized further evidence in addition to the GoPro camera itself, although authorities did not provide further details about the nature of those items. The department said that detectives “expect to file multiple charges” against the suspect once all evidence is reviewed. Officers plan to formally identify the suspect and release more information about the case when charges are issued.
“The placement of a camera in such a private place is a violation of trust in its most extreme form. This is terribly upsetting to parents and their children, and it is just as troubling to us,” police said in Thursday’s. update. “The Department is working diligently to safeguard sensitive images, to help victims and their families cope, and to prepare a solid criminal case for the courtroom.”
Newsweek reached out to the Franklin Police Department for further comment but did not receive a reply in time for publication.
