Roger Springfield

Roger Springfield, left, enters Onondaga County Court this morning where he faced charges of unlawful surveillance. He is accompanied by his attorney, James McGraw.

(Dick Blume / The Post-Standard)

Syracuse, NY -- An employee of the Syracuse University athletics department was working Dec. 6 on a football highlight video when he discovered about 15 minutes of footage showing football players leaving the shower after a game.

That discovery led authorities today to accuse former SU athletics department media director Roger Springfield of secretly recording more than 100 male athletes from three sports in the locker room at the Carrier Dome and out-of-state facilities over the past 10 years. The camera's red light that would indicate it was on was covered during the tapings, authorities said.

Springfield, whose real name is Roger Cahak, was arraigned this morning in Onondaga County Court on an indictment charging him with four felony counts of second-degree unlawful surveillance.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick later spelled out how the investigation of Springfield, 57, of Manlius began and what authorities discovered.

On Dec. 6, another athletic department employee noticed an extended period of post-game locker-room footage – about 14 to 15 minutes - on the video from the Oct. 27 football game against South Florida in Tampa, Fla.

That employee, who Fitzpatrick did not identify, noticed the footage was “clearly inappropriate” and notified a supervisor.

On Dec. 8, the Syracuse University public safety office notified the Syracuse police department and DA’s office.

On Dec. 11, City Judge Stephen Dougherty issued a search warrant for Springfield’s home on Valerie Circle and for his office and the media room at Manley Field House.

That search was executed on Dec. 12 and Springfield came to the police station to be questioned.

SU suspended him that day and fired him the following day.

On Dec. 14, Springfield and a lawyer came to the district attorney’s office to help identify where authorities could find additional video.

According to Fitzpatrick, the incidents in the indictment all occurred at the Carrier Dome and involved male athletes from the football, soccer and lacrosse teams.

He said authorities have discovered additional recordings that are outside the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution or involve incidents that occurred outside of New York state.

Fitzpatrick said authorities have identified 108 victims in the various recordings. Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Cali said SU officials assisted the prosecution and police detectives in making the identifications based on the faces that appeared in the videos.

Many other people were not able to be identified, Cali said. He said there were a total of 10 videos, including the four included in the indictment.

Fitzpatrick said the first charge in the indictment involved a recording made of members of the football team leaving the shower following the game against Louisville on Nov. 10. Cali said there were three football players in that recording.

Fitzpatrick said the second charge involves an incident in the spring of 2010 involving the SU lacrosse team in which 14 victims have been identified.

The third charge stems from an incident in the spring of 2010 involving the lacrosse and soccer teams in which 11 victims have been identified.

The fourth charge involves an incident from last April involving the soccer team in which 11 victims have been identified and six others remain unidentified, the DA said.

Fitzpatrick said in addition to the incident in Tampa, authorities found recordings from incidents in Massachusetts and in Akron, Ohio.

There is no evidence Springfield disseminated the recordings or still images to anyone else, Fitzpatrick said.

He also said there was no evidence any of the recordings were made of the basketball team players.

Fitzpatrick said it appears Springfield made the recordings by positioning the camera at waist level and placing a piece of tape over the red light to conceal that it was recording. He said the authorities “quickly discounted” the possibility of that having been done accidentally.

Fitzpatrick was joined at a news conference by Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler and Chief Anthony Callisto of the SU public safety department.

Fitzpatrick commended Syracuse police detectives for going through a “massive amount” of video.

Fowler said the case was “a great example” of what can happen when authorities all do their jobs and work together. He also said the investigation is continuing.

Callisto said the student affairs department at SU is reaching out to all of the student victims to provide a full range of services.

Callisto also was asked if this case was evidence of a change in how SU responded in the wake of criticism about its handling of past sexual abuse allegations against former assistant SU basketball coach Bernie Fine.

“The change is they are involving me quickly,” Callisto said. He noted he was immediately alerted to the recording and immediately brought in police and prosecutors after verifying it appeared to show criminal conduct.

Fitzpatrick said he did not know exactly how Springfield transferred to his personal property the recordings that were found after the co-worker discovered the 14- to 15-minute locker room scene while going through video from the South Florida game.

Cali said some of the recordings appear to date as far back as 2002 and 2003. That’s outside the statute of limitations and before the unlawful surveillance law came on the books in New York in August 2003, Fitzpatrick explained.

Fitzpatrick said he already has talked to the prosecutor’s office in Tampa about the recording made after the South Florida game there. Florida authorities appear to be leaving any prosecution to officials here, he said.

He also said his office will be talking with authorities in Massachusetts and Ohio about the incidents there. He also said he will speak to federal officials to see if they are interested in pursuing any potential federal charges if there is proof Springfield crossed state lines for the purpose of committing a crime.

The unlawful surveillance charges contained in the indictment unsealed in court are Class E felonies, punishable by up to four years in state prison.

Springfield was arraigned before Onondaga County Judge Thomas Miller. Defense lawyer James McGraw entered a “not guilty” plea for Springfield. The judge allowed Springfield to be released on his own recognizance and adjourned the case to Jan. 22 for a pre-trial conference with Cali and McGraw.

After court, McGraw questioned whether the prosecution will be able to prove a key element of the charges: that the athletes recorded had an expectation of privacy in a sports locker room after a game. But Cali said that is not an element of the charge under the section filed against Springfield.

Springfield cooperated fully and led authorities to the other recordings he had made previously, McGraw said.

“There is no evidence of any sexual misbehavior,” McGraw said, noting Springfield is married and has three adult children.