THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 5, 1995 TAG: 9510050387
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The commonwealth's attorney today is scheduled to seek the grand jury indictment of John W. Crute, former Wilson High School track coach, on about 20 counts of secretly videotaping female students as they undressed in locker rooms.
Helivi L. Holland, an assistant commonwealth's attorney, said her office is seeking both felony and misdemeanor indictments of the 45-year-old Crute.
Crute already has been charged with making sexually explicit pictures of a minor - a felony - and one misdemeanor for the unlawful filming or photographing of a minor.
The presentation to the grand jury was developed after police reviewed almost 400 videotapes, many of which allegedly show pictures of girls in various stages of undress. Most of the girls were coached by Crute, police said.
Crute turned himself in to police on Aug. 1, two days after a video camera was found in a storage room adjacent to a girl's locker room at Wilson. The camera allegedly had been used to tape unsuspecting female students through a hole in the wall.
The camera contained a tape of a 15-year-old female Wilson student who authorities said had been videotaped as she undressed in the locker room sometime during the last weekend of July.
On July 31, police raided the home Crute shares with his parents in the 400 block of Sussex Drive in Portsmouth. There they found more than 300 videotapes. They also confiscated several cameras, videocassette recorders, other video equipment and a red bra from a screening room that Crute had in the house.
In late August, police found an additional 57 videotapes at Wilson in a storage room near the school gymnasium.
The review of the tapes and identifying victims was not completed until this past weekend. Throughout the process worried parents brought in pictures of their daughters who they feared were victims of the videotaping.
Police have said Crute probably taped girls in two locker rooms through holes in walls.
Police have released 16 police reports that describe some of the victims. They are all identified as female students at Wilson, ranging in age from 15 to 22. The videotaping allegedly occurred over several years, but police have not revealed just when it began.
All but one of the alleged victims indicated to police that they wanted to prosecute, according to the reports. One student said she did not wish to pursue charges.
Holland said the review of the tapes, was ``one of the most secret investigations'' ever undertaken by Portsmouth police. Only a few officers were allowed to view them, and a female officer or prosecutor was always present.
Crute was released on a personal recognizance bond immediately after his arrest, but was suspended from his job as teacher and coach. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 24 in Portsmouth General District Court. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
John W. Crute
KEYWORDS: ARREST by CNB