A West Virginia principal accused of planting secret cameras in girls’ locker rooms allegedly monitored his victims undressing through a livestream feed, according to multiple lawsuits filed against him.
Eric James, 53, faces civil action from 11 students across several schools, with a class action lawsuit filed last week on behalf of eight students followed by three additional individual complaints, according to court documents. The allegations span his time as principal at Brooke High School in Wellsburg and earlier positions in the state’s Northern Panhandle.
One former soccer player at a previous school claimed in her complaint that James developed a disturbing pattern around the locker room entrance. “would wait for her at the locker room door, let her in, and then disappear,” she stated in the filing. The student believed he was slipping away to watch live camera footage while she changed inside.
Another student from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale reported using Brooke High’s changing rooms during an away event. “Upon information and belief, Eric James would view the live camera footage while [the girl] was in the locker room,” that complaint reads. A 17-year-old Brooke High student separately stated she “reasonably believes” she was captured on one of the hidden devices while changing at the school.
The class action lawsuit emphasizes the prolonged nature of the alleged surveillance. “The resulting invasion of the bodily privacy of Plaintiffs and other students was not momentary. Every day that the devices remained concealed and operational exposed children to additional secret observation and recording,” the filing states.
James allegedly installed four secret cameras in locker rooms and changing areas at Brooke High, according to a criminal complaint. The devices reportedly allowed him to observe students in real time rather than simply recording for later viewing.
The lawsuits also raise questions about earlier warnings. Students “made reports or complaints concerning James’s conduct” during his tenure as a gym teacher at Cameron High in Cameron, WV, from 2000 to 2018, one complaint alleges. The Brooke County Board of Education, named alongside James in the litigation, faces scrutiny for its handling of those reports and his subsequent promotion.
All four lawsuits seek monetary damages to be determined by jury trial. James was suspended last Wednesday and remains in custody at Northern Regional Jail on $100,000 bond. He has not yet entered a plea as the criminal investigation continues, and no attorney for him has been publicly identified.
James is scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday.