Colby College professor Philip Brown resigns amid reports that he secretly took bathroom photos of female students
Kennebec Journal
February 14, 2011
A tenured economics professor at Colby College was forced to resign late last month after allegations surfaced that he set up a hidden surveillance camera to take photos of female students in a bathroom while chaperoning an international student trip, according to court documents.
Philip H. Brown, an associate professor of economics who has taught at Colby since 2003, has not been charged and an investigation by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit is ongoing. Brown's resignation was confirmed by the college.
Investigators executed a search warrant on his campus apartment Jan. 27 and seized his college-owned computer and other electronic devices, according to an affidavit filed in Kennebec County District Court in Augusta.
But, "as the investigation stands, we don't have a crime," Detective David Armstrong, of the computer crimes unit, said Thursday.
Armstrong, who wrote the affidavit in support of the search warrant, said that while the alleged offense took place in China, "there was some concern that there may be some issues back home and that's what we based our search warrant on, but we haven't found any evidence of that yet. We don't have a crime you can prosecute in this country."
