MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Detectives from the Morgantown Police Department have obtained warrants for the arrest of a suspect in the investigation into two cameras recently found in J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital bathrooms.
According to a Friday evening news release from the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office, arrest warrants were issued Friday for Dr. Lance Parks. He’s charged with eight misdemeanor counts of criminal invasion of privacy and one felony count of distribution and exhibiting computer-generated child pornography.
It doesn’t appear Parks had been taken into custody as of Friday evening.
Hospital employees found a digital recording device concealed beneath a sink inside a staff restroom last Friday, June 26. The employees immediately called police and the device was turned over to investigators.
The prosecutor said detectives used information from the device to determine it was Parks who put it there. The investigation also revealed the device contained video footage depicting eight hospital employees who had been unknowingly recorded while partially nude. All eight workers have been contacted by police.
While responding to a clogged pipe this past Tuesday at the hospital, employees discovered a second recording device in a toilet located in a non-public restroom.
The second device was also immediately given to detectives who found it contained no images or other media, Friday’s news release said.
A search warrant was executed at the home of Parks and multiple computers and digital storage devices were seized for forensic examination.
Authorities said the investigation has uncovered additional evidence, including images of juvenile females that appear to have been downloaded from publicly available social media and photo-sharing websites.
Investigators also found numerous computer-generated images in which artificial intelligence had been used to manipulate the original photographs to depict the juveniles as fully nude.
Detectives are continuing to examine the seized electronic devices to determine the full scope of any criminal conduct and to identify any and all victims.
The Morgantown City Police Department, the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office, and J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital are working together to notify all victims as they are identified through the investigation. Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact detectives with the Morgantown Police Department.
The investigation remains active and no other information will be released at this time, authorities said.
A WVU Hospitals spokesperson issued the following statement:
“We are grateful to the Morgantown Police Department and the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office for their prompt work in bringing charges in this case.
This has been tremendously traumatic and disturbing for our employees, and our commitment to them has always been to provide them with a workplace in which they feel safe, respected, and supported.
Similarly, we remain deeply committed to providing our patients with the highest quality and safest care possible.
The actions of one ill-intended individual will not drive us off that course, nor do they define the work of the thousands of employees who come to work every day in support of the people who entrust us with their care.
We will continue providing whatever information and evidence we can to law enforcement and the Prosecutor’s Office to ensure justice is served swiftly and appropriately.”