Police: Assistant swim coach recorded his attempt to film student changing
MERIDEN — An assistant swim coach allegedly recorded his attempt to film a 16-year-old female student changing after asking her to show up at practice to “work on her athletics,” according to a newly released arrest warrant.
Daniel Barillaro, Jr., 23, of Meriden, was charged with voyeurism with malice on Feb. 3 after the female student came forward to police in January to report that it appeared he had intentionally set up his cell phone in a bathroom to record her changing after practice, the warrant said.
The young woman told police that the girl’s locker room was closed so she had to change in a bathroom but Barillaro asked if he could get in before her, the warrant stated.
After Barillaro left the bathroom, the young woman went in to change but discovered a cell phone partially hidden by a wallet was recording her every move, the warrant said. The female student stopped the recording and played back the video which she said showed Barillaro setting up the device, she told police, according to the warrant.
When he was confronted by investigators about the incident, Barillaro told police that he had deleted the video because he was concerned that he had recorded something when he left his phone in the bathroom, the warrant said. He then contradicted himself by saying he didn’t know about a video and then later said that his phone had been accidentally recording videos, police said.
A search of the phone by Meriden police and an FBI digital forensics expert didn’t uncover the video which the federal agent said was likely permanently deleted by Barillaro when he moved the recording to the trash and then deleted the video from his phone, the warrant said.
Surveillance cameras in the pool area of the school which was not named in the warrant showed that Barillaro cutting off the young woman to get in the bathroom in front of her, police said. He can also be seen going back in the bathroom after she leaves to retrieve his phone and wallet and manipulating the phone while looking at the screen, the warrant said.
Barillaro was terminated from his coaching duties when the incident came to light, school officials said. In a news conference staged shortly after the arrest, Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati said Barillaro is no longer employed with the school system. He described Barillaro as a longtime city resident and confirmed he underwent a background check before being hired, a routine practice for all school employees.