GAFFNEY, S.C. (WSPA) – Gaffney Police Department is investigating a report that five videos of women’s athletic teams in a locker room at Limestone College were discovered on a porn website.
The college’s Campus Safety Department filed a report with police on Oct. 10.
According to the police report, campus safety officials said there had been five different video surveillance of five women’s teams using the men’s soccer locker room at the school.
A campus safety officer told police that the dates on the videos ranged from September 2012 to October 2013.
The footage reportedly showed women changing clothes and taking showers.
According to the report, the videos showed the entrance to the shower and the changing areas of the locker room.
Police were told the videos were uploaded to a porn website about two months ago, and that the security division at the college was unsure who was responsible for the videos.
According to the report, campus safety said it appeared that the video camera was sitting on a sink in the men’s locker room while recording the women.
7News spoke with former Limestone athlete Claire Culp about the report. “Holy moly, that is insane,” Culp said. “I panicked.”
Culp was a cross country runner at Limestone College in 2012 and 2013 — the same time videos were reportedly taken of female athletes.
“Was I involved? Was one of my friends involved? I mean I was there. How does this even happen? It’s really scary knowing you could be exposed to the entire world,” Culp said.
When Culp saw our previous story online, she immediately alerted every woman she knew who played a sport at Limestone College during the affected time period.
“I texted it to my friends who went to school with me and was like, ‘Hey, heads up. This is going on,’” Culp said.
But police tell 7News the impact could be far greater than just Limestone students.“There are a lot of moving parts to this with other universities,” Gaffney Police Department Detective Brian Blanto said. “Out-of-state universities.”
According to police, five different women’s teams were recorded while changing clothes and showering inside a locker room roughly seven years ago, and those videos were recently posted on a pornographic website.
“100 percent paranoid. It’s terrifying,” Culp said. “I’ve got a 9-year-old step-son and this is the world he’s going to grow up in, so I not only have to be concerned about myself, but also him.”
Police told 7 News someone from another school contacted Limestone College’s Campus Safety Department about the videos.
The college released the following statement about the investigation:
“Since being made aware of the alleged incident on our campus, the Limestone Campus Safety Department and other College officials have been assisting the Gaffney Police Department with its investigation. Our primary goal continues to be the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and guests. We are fortunate that such alleged incidents are highly uncommon on our campus, and they certainly will not be tolerated. Limestone College is as safe as any institution in the nation. It is unfortunate that an individual or individuals might have violated the terms under which we are gathered as a community at this College. We will continue to cooperate with the proper law enforcement authorities as the investigation moves forward. Because this is an ongoing matter, we will be unable to comment further until the investigation is completed.”
“I don’t think there’s any kind of threat to any college students or the community,” Blanton said. “We’ll exhaust every option we’ve got until we get to the bottom of it.”
In the meantime, Culp said she has been thinking of her fellow athletes.
“I just hope this doesn’t impact them in an negative way, with their careers and their families, because they had no idea,” she said.
The other universities involved in the investigation have not been named yet. Police are still working to identify everyone in the videos.
Anyone with information about the videos should call 911 or the Gaffney Police Department at 864-489-8115.
