Bail Set For Man Charged With Filming Wrestler In Chelmsford High School Locker Room
LOWELL (CBS) – A Waltham man charged with filming a boy who was getting dressed in the locker room during a wrestling competition at Chelmsford High School appeared in court on Monday. David Menard, 54, of Waltham was ordered held on $2,500 cash bail.
Menard, who allegedly brought multiple cameras and laptops to the school, was charged with possession of child pornography and videotaping a person nude or partially nude for a felony.
The Waltham resident was arraigned in Lowell District Court on Monday.
His defense attorney argued that Menard had the laptops because he is a computer engineer. He has no criminal record and his attorney told the court Menard suffers from a number of mental health issues and is not violent.
The incident happened Saturday while students were competing in a large wrestling event with 21 schools. Prosecutor Rachel Perlman said, "At some point, the complaining witness in the case who was fully nude at the time, he's 15-years-old, noticed that he believed that the defendant was recording him on a cell phone."
A group of coaches detained Menard and escorted him out of the building, police said. "They demanded that he show his phone to them, he was fidgeting with the phone and they are believing that he might be removing some video or evidence from the phone," Perlman added.
Police seized the cell phone as evidence. Following Menard's arrest, police said the number of laptops and cameras he was in possession of made them concerned this could be a "regular activity" he participates in.
Neighbors in Waltham said Menard keeps to himself.
"You're shocked when you hear anything like that but he's a weird dude. It's frustrating and it's got a lot of neighbors concerned," one neighbor said.
Menard is due back in court on February 11 for a pretrial hearing. If he posts bail in the meantime, he must stay away from all schools, have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 and stay away from any witnesses.