Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. (WGNO) — A doctor at a Jefferson Parish Ochsner hospital is behind bars accused of illegally videoing fellow employees, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
On Thursday, August 3, deputies arrested 31-year-old resident trainee Andrew Matthews after receiving a complaint of finding a recording device hidden in a restroom. Deputies say they received a call at 11:30 a.m. from hospital security in the 1500 block of Jefferson Highway after an employee found the camera.
Security staff was able to locate who the device allegedly belonged to and turned Matthews and the camera into deputies.
While searching the device, deputies reportedly found “dozens of videos taken inside what we believe are ‘staff only’ restrooms” with at least 10 people in the videos.
Matthews was initially booked on 10 counts of video voyeurism.
We can confirm that a resident trainee has been arrested for allegedly unlawfully installing a recording device in an employee restroom at our Jefferson Highway campus. The individual has been terminated. An investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is underway.
The safety of our patients, visitors and employees is our highest priority. Ochsner Health does not and will not tolerate violations of privacy or illegal activity of any kind.
While we cannot comment further on the details of an active investigation, we can reassure our community that our security team acted swiftly and conducted a thorough sweep of the campus, including all bathrooms, call rooms, and other private staff and patient areas. No other devices were found.
We are offering all available resources to support our teams. We will continue to work closely with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and our security and safety teams.
George Loss, Jr. MD, Regional Medical Director, Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans
No further details are available as the investigation is expected to go on for weeks, according to JPSO.
WGNO spoke with our legal analyst, attorney Cliff Cardone, who says video voyeurism is a felony.
“It ranges from a two-year felony conviction all the way up to a 10-year conviction, depending on what the facts are,” Cardone explained. “So, the most serious conviction would be the 10-year [conviction] without suspension of sentence parole or probation, so he would have to serve a minimum time in jail if he were convicted.”
Cardone also says his potential medical license is in jeopardy.
“He’s going to have to register, if convicted, as a sex offender. So, that pretty much would prohibit him from practicing medicine because I don’t think any hospital, which grants privileges, will allow him to interact with patients, having been a convicted felon for video voyeurism.”
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