A teacher who was arrested last month for allegedly recording students undressing is facing hundreds of new charges after a forensic examination revealed nearly 300 videos and images of young girls, sheriff’s officials said.
Mark Ackett — a married, 50-year-old former fashion design teacher at Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Fla. — is now facing an additional 353 counts in addition to the video voyeurism charges he faced after his initial arrest on Sept. 11, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Ackett, who surrendered to deputies in connection with the new charges Monday, initially was arrested after a 17-year-old student in his fashion design class found two cellphones hidden in a classroom area where she and other classmates disrobed for assignments.
Ackett then told deputies he began recording students in January 2017 — more than 21 months earlier, when he was hired by the district to teach fashion design and family consumer sciences. Ackett also coached the girls’ volleyball team, according to the newspaper.
Sheriff’s officials told the newspaper Monday that an additional 267 videos and photos of girls were discovered on Ackett’s cellphones, Google accounts and other digital devices during a forensic examination. That led to the filing of an additional 267 video voyeurism charges against Ackett, as well as 73 counts of production of harmful material to a minor and 13 counts of possession of child pornography, sheriff officials said.
While authorities declined to specify the number of additional victims, the students seen in the footage and photos range in age from 14 to 18 and are depicted in various degrees of nudity.
The student who told deputies that she found the camera inside Ackett’s classroom last month told school staffers she was wearing only a bra and panties when she spotted two boxes in the changing room that housed the devices.
The boxes had holes to allow access for the cellphones’ camera and at least one of the phones was actively recording when it was uncovered, court records show.
School staffers then found three digital cameras and two data storage cards in Ackett’s desk the following day, as well as several thumbdrives scattered throughout his classroom, according to court records.
Ackett, of Plant City, resigned after his arrest last month, ending a nearly three-decade career teaching in Hillsborough County Public Schools. He remained jailed in Hillsborough County as of Tuesday on $250,000 bail, jail records show.