A former custodian is in custody after years on the run, accused of secretly filming students and staff in a bathroom at a Northfield, Illinois, middle school.
Northfield police announced that David Garcia-Espinal, 46, was found and arrested in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 19.
Garcia-Espinal formerly worked at the Sunset Ridge School at 525 Sunset Ridge Rd., where, in 2020, he allegedly hid a video camera in a school bathroom and recorded students and staff without their knowledge or consent.
He worked at the school as a custodian through the Smith Maintenance Company between 2015 and 2020. In 2016, he took on a second job at the school as a cook through OrganicLife.
In a previous complaint against the companies, it was noted that Garcia-Espinal has a criminal background and a long pattern of inappropriate behavior. The companies were accused of failing to conduct adequate background checks before hiring him.
Sunset Ridge School District 29 superintendent Edward Strange, at the time, said both vendors conducted criminal background checks on Garcia-Espinal and didn’t find anything. School officials also said there were no prior complaints about Garcia-Espinal.
An investigation by CBS News Chicago found that in 2010, Garcia-Espinal was caught on two separate occasions taking pictures of women while they were urinating in a movie theater restroom at the Northbrook Mall. He was banned from the mall.
Then, in 2012, he admitted to going to the Regal Theater in Glenview and entering a woman’s bathroom to masturbate. He also admitted to doing the same thing at the Northbrook theater. He was never charged ineither incident.
Garcia-Espinal also pleaded guilty to identity fraud in 2012 and was sentenced to probation. He was fined for violating his probation in 2013.
Following the secret recording at Sunset Ridge School, police said Garcia-Espinal fled the United States before he was arrested.
He is awaiting extradition to Illinois and formal charges on multiple counts of unauthorized videotaping.
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