Employee Charged With Placing Hidden Camera In Hospital Bathroom

BURLINGTON (CBS) – A Tewksbury man was arrested and charged with placing a hidden camera in a hospital's employee bathroom.

Michael McDermott, 21, allegedly placed the recording device in a staff bathroom at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington. The camera was found in a pen on March 29.

McDermott, a hospital employee, is charged with three counts of photographing an unsuspecting nude person and possession of a wiretap. He is scheduled to be arraigned at a later date.

Police say that multiple people were videoed in "a state of undress" inside the restroom.

"It sounds like a disturbed person," said Catherine Tobin, a nurse.

A spokeperson for Lahey Hospital says a pen with a small recording device was found last week during a routine cleaning. Hospital security identified McDermott as the employee responsible and he was immediately fired.

The hospital said no patients or visitors were impacted by the incident.

"Protecting the safety, security and privacy of our colleagues, patients and visitors is a top priority," the hospital said in a statement.

Tobin, meanwhile, said she she's never heard of such a thing happening before.

"To have a camera on you and you don't even know and in the bathroom? No, that's weird," she said.