Coach accused in video voyeurism

Camera hidden in alarm clock

Bill Weed, longtime coach and athletic director at Palm Beach Gardens High School, was arrested Monday on charges related to what police say is a case of video voyeurism involving an unsuspecting minor.

Weed, 50, is accused of using a camera disguised inside a digital alarm clock to take videos and images of the victim. Investigators say a video surveillance device seized by police in February included an SD memory card containing 35 photos and 149 video files.

The images show the underage victim in various stages of undress, including some in which she was nude, according to the arrest report.

Weed was taken into custody Monday at the Palm Beach County school district’s transportation office by Palm Beach Gardens police and U.S. Marshals agents and booked into the county jail on charges of video voyeurism — a felony sex offense — and unlawful use

of two-way communication device.

Bond was set at $3,000 for each charge. Neither count specifies alleged criminal activity involving a minor victim.

Palm Beach Gardens police spokesperson Ellen Lovejoy would not comment Monday on whether Weed will face additional charges related to the victim’s age, but said authorities are “actively investigating other aspects of the case.”

According to police records, the victim reported on Feb. 18 that she had discovered a video camera inside a digital alarm clock that Weed had given her as a gift.

The device, seized by investigators the following day at Weed’s residence in Palm Beach Gardens, was a motion-activated mini spy camera that, paired with a smartphone app, can record video and audio, snap photographs and stream the video/audio feed live on the phone app or a computer. The device, which can store audio and video on a micro SD card, also has night-vision capability.

When questioned, Weed denied knowing the device was a spy cam, according to the arrest report.

In follow-up visits, police seized more than 40 items from the house believed to be relevant to the investigation. Among the items were four digital cameras, multiple computers and tablets, 11 cell phones and more than a dozen digital storage devices.

Investigators also confiscated two iPhones allegedly belonging to Weed — a current phone and an older model. A police department forensics expert told investigators Weed had reset one cell phone and disabled the other before police arrived.

Weed, who has served as Palm Beach Gardens’ AD since 2006 and as girls lacrosse coach since 2014, was placed on administrative reassignment in February, pending an investigation by the county school district’s human resources office.

“We are disappointed when any employee faces criminal charges, and it is particularly disheartening when the allegations involve a crime against a minor,” district spokesperson Kathy Burstein said Monday in a press release. “At this time, it does not appear that the individual used his professional role to exploit students at his school.”

Last month, Palm Beach Gardens principal Larry Clawson issued a robocall to parents, saying the police investigation was related t an “off-campus incident” and that Weed was not working on the Gardens campus or any other school campus.

In a press release, the Palm Beach Gardens police said there is no evidence of any other victims related to this incident.

Weed was not in court for an initial hearing Monday and is expected to appear before a judge Tuesday.