On Sunday night around 8 p.m., Michael McKenna, 30, was apprehended and arrested by Middletown Police in Olin Library after attempting to photograph at least one student in a women’s bathroom.
“I went to the bathroom in Olin Library on the third floor, and I heard a strange noise,” reported a female student who wished to remain anonymous. “I saw that [a man standing in the bathroom] didn’t have shoes on. I got into my stall and peered under and saw that there was a digital camera pointed at me….Someone was holding it.”
The student promptly asked a friend to accompany her to identify the man. The two returned to the hallway near the bathroom.
“There was a man down the hall in the shadows sitting in the dark and peering at us,” said the victim’s friend, who also asked to remain anonymous.
After locating the perpetrator, the victim immediately called Public Safety (PSafe). According to PSafe Director Dave Meyer, once PSafe officers received the report they immediately called the Middletown Police Department (MPD).
The victim reported that PSafe officers arrived within a few minutes, followed soon after by MPD officers.
“I was very impressed by both Public Safety’s response to the situation and the Middletown Police’s response,” the victim said. “They were very competent and very swift.”
According to the victim, PSafe and MPD officers apprehended McKenna in the stacks on the second floor. Meyer reported that McKenna was then arrested and will go to court. According to Meyer, no evidence suggests that the culprit took pictures elsewhere on campus.
The victim described McKenna as a white male of average height with short, dark hair, glasses, and scruff, wearing sneakers, a sweater, and jeans.
“It’s kind of unnerving to think of people sitting in the bathroom, taking videos of people, and how many other people might not have noticed that that was happening,” the victim’s friend said. “I guess it doesn’t impact me personally, but it’s definitely creepy.”
Meyer said that this is the first incident in recent memory of voyeurism involving a non-student.
“It’s definitely scary that that would happen, but it’s important to know that it’s a public building, and although safety and security is important, and our Public Safety does do an excellent job of keeping this campus secure, I think it’s also important to keep buildings like Olin and other libraries open to the public,” the victim said.
An email sent to Olin student workers stated that the MPD warned McKenna to stay off campus and told the students to contact PSafe if they saw him in Olin.