A charge of video voyeurism is pending against a Van Buren substitute teacher who was arrested this week and accused of taking pictures of young boys in an elementaryschool restroom, according to the Crawford County sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Damante said Keith Dickens, 42, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after admitting that he photographed two 7-yearold second-graders at Tate Elementary School that day.
He was booked into the Crawford County jail but was released Tuesday after posting a $7,500 bond.
Damante said the two students had gone into the restroom and noticed when they approached the urinals that someone in a stall next to the urinals held a cell phone under the stall wall and began photographing them.
One of the boys told deputies when he walked over to the sink to wash his hands, the camera followed him, Damante said.
The boys left the restroom and told a teacher that someone was photographing them in the restroom, Damante said. He said the teacher didnot go into the restroom but watched the door. When the teacher saw Dickens emerge, the teacher did not confront Dickens but contacted superiors, who contacted the sheriff’s office, Damante said.
Damante said the boys were able to give investigators an accurate description of the man’s shoes, pants and belt and of the phone he was using.
When interviewed by sheriff’s deputies, Damante said, Dickens at first denied taking the photos. He later admitted to taking the photos but said he deleted them from his phone, Damante said.
He said the Arkansas attorney general’s office has been asked to join the investigation to try to retrieve the deleted photos from the phone.
Van Buren’s assistant school superintendent, Brian Summerhill, would not comment on Dickens’ assignment at the school or give any information about him. He said that background checks are conducted on substitute teachers and that they undergo training.
He said substitute teachers are paid by the school district but are more like independent contractors who take whatever assignments are given.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 01/11/2013