April 4, 2001 - Man Accused in Cheerleader Voyeur Video Case - NY Times

A former music teacher at the Greenwich Academy in Connecticut was charged in a 56-count indictment today with shooting voyeuristic videos of high school cheerleaders from across Long Island and posting close-ups of the girls on a pay-per-view Web site, the authorities said.

The former teacher, Kevin Matthew Dern, 29, surrendered this morning to the authorities in Suffolk County, the site of the server for his Internet site, cheervideos.com, which is now closed.
He was charged with 53 counts of violating the civil rights of the cheerleaders, all teenage girls, by zooming in on them to catch glimpses under their skirts or down their blouses, said Drew Biondo, a spokesman for James M. Catterson Jr., the Suffolk district attorney.

Mr. Dern was also charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Mr. Biondo said, for three close-up video images of the underwear of three identifiable teenage girls.
Mr. Catterson said this was the first time his office had used state civil rights law in this kind of Internet case; Mr. Dern faces more serious criminal charges in Connecticut.

The police in Greenwich, who searched his condominium at 36P Putnam Green for the Suffolk authorities on Feb. 7, seized two computers, videotapes and 9,000 pornographic pictures, said Deputy Chief James A. Walters of the Greenwich police.

Mr. Dern surrendered to the authorities in Greenwich on March 11 on 20 felony counts of possession of child pornography and could face up to five years in prison on each count if convicted, Mr. Walters said.

After the police in Greenwich searched his home, Mr. Dern resigned from his teaching job. Mr. Dern's lawyer, Philip Russell of Greenwich, said Mr. Dern had pleaded not guilty in Suffolk County and in Connecticut. Mr. Dern is free on bail in both cases.