A disgraced Tennessee middle school teacher cried after she was sentenced to four years in prison for setting up a camera in a girls' locker room and making a video up a student's skirt.
Christopher Schroll, 33, a former 8th-grade science teacher and football coach at Cleveland Middle School, pleaded guilty Monday in Bradley County Court to attempted unlawful photography of a minor. WTVC,
Schroll was arrested in March 2022 after students complained that they found a camera inside the locker room.
The bully told Cleveland police detectives he bought a Divine Eagle spy camera from Amazon and placed it in the girls' locker room, News Channel 9 previously reported. He claimed he had received “complaints” about “bullying and harassment” from students. Report,
He told investigators he took the footage home each day and stored it on his personal computer for “review.”
However, school administrators say they never received a complaint about bullying and that Schroll never informed them of any incidents.
According to investigators, his secret recording of the girl students lasted for two days, with 30 teenage girls captured on camera, some of whom were changing clothes.
The outlet reported that police had to examine nearly four million photos located on an SD card connected to the secret recording device.
Detectives also said they found a deleted video on one of his devices in which a student's skirt was filmed.
Following his arrest, parents of students at Cleveland Middle School were immediately notified of the teacher’s alleged disturbing misconduct.
Before his sentencing on Monday, Schroll was forced to listen to testimony from several of the young victims’ families about how his despicable actions impacted their lives.
“She had no words for what happened at school that day because she didn't know people could do bad things,” a crying unidentified parent told the court. “She asked me, 'Why, mom? I trusted him!'”
Another mother said, “I’m asking you to bring justice to my daughter and all the other daughters in this case, because they haven’t seen justice for these girls yet — and you understand the impact this has had on our children and how it has changed their lives, how they interact with other teachers, how it affects them at school, and how it affects their personal lives.”
Sex offender counselor Dr. Michael Adler testified in Schroll's defense during his trial, saying the disgraced teacher should receive treatment, not go to jail. WTVC,
Still, the parents argued that since his arrest he has been seen at the girl's soccer practice and that his presence in the community is troubling.
Schroll also spoke during Monday's sentencing hearing, where, through tears, he apologized to the victims and their families.
“To the parents and to your children, I'm so sorry. I know you put a lot of trust in me and I broke that, and all I can say is I'm sorry,” he said, facing the parents in court.
Schroll will also be forced to register as a sex offender.
