By Jason Emerson
Editor
A Cazenovia teenager has become the third teen to be arrested and charged with a felony in the case of a special needs teenager who was filmed without his knowledge or consent on a cellphone video while he was using a Cazenovia High School bathroom urinal in May.
The video was shared via Snapchat to 36 other people.
Christopher Sparks, 16, of Cazenovia, was arrested and arraigned on July 18 and charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent person/physical disabled person in the first degree, a class E felony.
Sparks is the third CHS student to be arrested in the case after a nearly two-month investigation.
In May, Andrew Peterson 17, of Cazenovia, was arrested and later arraigned on three class E felony charges in the case: endangering the welfare of an incompetent/physically disabled person in the first degree, unlawful dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image in the first degree and unlawful surveillance in the second degree.
Also arrested within the same week and later arraigned was Andrew Glass 16, of Peterboro, for dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image in the first degree and endangering the welfare of an incompetent/physically disabled person in the first degree, both E felony charges.
According to Cazenovia court filings, Peterson allegedly filmed the special needs student in the restroom and sent it via cellphone to Glass who then shared it via Snapchat. Sparks is alleged in court documents to have “actively participated while the video was being taken of the victim while using the bathroom.”
Assistant District Attorney Robert Mascari, who is in charge of prosecuting the case, said that the allegations and what happened to the victim is “despicable and disgusting.”
“There is in my mind no defense to the pain and embarrassment this young person and person’s family have been put through,” Mascari said. “It isn’t just the fact that a video happened, it’s the number of times that it ends up getting re-transmitted and how it became almost a school-wide joke; it’s awful. There is a complete lack of sensitivity. And I will say only that the investigation continues, that this matter is being taken very seriously and you can rest assured there’ll be more to report on and read about in the not-too-distant future.”
Cazenovia Police Chief Michael Hayes also said this is still an open investigation, although he does not anticipate any more arrests at this time.
Hayes said his officers obtained — through search warrants and parental consent — the cell phones of 10 CHS students who allegedly received the video and those phones are currently in the hands of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office forensics department. The forensics investigation will determine if any of the phone still contain the illicit video and if the video was sent to other phones of which police are currently unaware, Hayes said.
Once the results of the forensics examinations are completed, Hayes said he will meet with Mascari and determine what the next steps will be as far as any other individuals who may have distributed this video.
“We are getting very cooperative parents and students, and the school district has also been very cooperative with any of the needs of this investigation,” Hayes said. “The general consensus even among the parents of the kids who received the video is that they are very upset.”
Hayes said school and police officials “never would have known about this” incident if two Cazenovia High School students had not come forward to report it.
“Two students said, ‘This is wrong;’ they stepped up and the community as a whole — and the majority of the parents and students we interviewed — have all said the same thing: This is just wrong.”
Hayes said at the time of the May arrests that teens need to understand that anyone in possession of or caught disseminating images like this are trafficking in child pornography.
“These cell phones are such powerful devices that when you broadcast something, the minute it it’s the Internet it is not 100 percent gone, and because of your ages you can be charged with crimes that will ruin your life,” he said this week.
Hayes previously said his department will be working with the school district to educate students and teachers on the general issues involved in this case.
Cazenovia district Superintendent Matt Reilly said he has no further comment on the case.
In May, after the first two arrests, Reilly said, “We educate students on digital citizenship and will continue to do so. In terms of this matter, we have been and will continue to work with local authorities regarding this incident. Our focus obviously is one the students impacted. The matter is appropriately in the criminal justice system and we will not comment further out of respect for those involved and for the process.”
