UPDATED Oct. 2, 2009 - State investigators are now looking into the student's claims.
Reported Oct. 1, 2009
HIGHLAND, Kan. – A college student is accusing his off campus landlord of secretly taping him in the bathroom.
John Stewart is a freshman at Highland Community College. Highland, Kansas is about 30 miles west of St. Joseph, Mo.
Stewart says by the time he applied for a dorm room they were full. The school gave him a list of homeowners in Highland who house students. John chose one close to the school.
On Wednesday, John says he discovered something disturbing in what looked like air freshener in the bathroom of the home.
“I opened it and I saw these microchips. I saw these black parts, these things glued up. So I freaked out,” he says.
John lived in the home for six weeks.
"I felt scared like someone is looking at me because it's pointed right at the shower,” he says.
Not sure what to do next John called his mother.
“I was angry, very angry,” says Susan Stewart.
His parents advised him to go to the school. The IT department confirmed it was a camera. John went to police.
John also told them he allegedly found child pornography on the landlord’s computer.
The Doniphan County Sheriff says they are investigating but decline further comment.
NBC Action News is not naming the landlord because he is not facing in criminal charges. We spoke to him and he denied having a camera in the bathroom and downloading child porn.
Craig Mosher with the college says they are now revisiting how they put together the list of off campus housing.
“We weren't prepared for something like this. We didn't anticipate it happening. And to be fair we don't know for sure that it did. It's still being investigated. But there certainly is cause for concern. And we'll follow up,” says Mosher.
The school placed John in a dorm. John says he’s unsure if he will return to school.
