Ex-custodian accused of secretly filming students, staff in bathrooms at suburban middle school ordered held
A former custodian accused of secretly filming students and staff in bathrooms at a Northfield, Illinois, middle school will remain in jail following his court appearance on Wednesday.
Garcia-Espinal formerly worked at the Sunset Ridge School at 525 Sunset Ridge Rd., where, in 2020, he allegedly hid a video camera in a school bathroom and recorded students and staff without their knowledge or consent.
Police said Garcia-Espinal fled the United States following the incident at the school. He spent the past six years on the run before he was arrested for a similar incident at a Los Angeles restaurant.
The restaurant's owner said Garcia-Espinal was working for him under an alias last year, when a customer found a camera recording inside the restaurant bathroom. Garcia-Espinal allegedly ran away as police were called and evaded police until last month.
Garcia-Espinal has a history of similar offenses, including being caught on two separate occasions taking pictures of women while they were urinating in a movie theater restroom at the Northbrook Mall. He was banned from the mall. Then, in 2012, he admitted to going to the Regal Theater in Glenview and entering a woman's bathroom to masturbate. He also admitted to doing the same thing at the Northbrook theater. He was never charged in either incident.
He will remain in custody while he awaits trial.
The video above is from a previous report.