Lawyers: IT People Just Followed Orders

LOWER MERION, Pa. - Who really knew about the webcams on the Lower Merion laptops? That's what investigators are trying to find out.

Fox 29 has talked with both attorneys for the schools' IT specialists who are on administrative leave in connection with the investigation prompted by claims of webcam spying in a lawsuit filed by Harriton High School sophomore Blake Robbins and his parents.

The two employees were put on leave last week while lawyers and technicians examine how the remote system was used.

Attorney Marc Neff represents Michael Perpix, one of the IT workers on paid administrative leave, and he says Perpix used the remote software more than 40 times, but always at the directive of the district.

“Did he ever see a high school student? There were images of people that he saw he doesn’t know who they are he doesn't recognize them,” Neff said.

Charles Mandracchia, tattorney for Lower Merion systems information coordinator Carol Cafiero said of his client and Perpix did what they were told.  "It was their duty to turn on the camera. But they would only do that if they received a request from the two high schools, the two buildings, because they had no direct contact with the students, they didn't know the students."

Once the security feature was activated and the computer was opened, the webcam would snap a photo every 15 minutes. "But it was only done – it was only supposed to be done if the computer was lost or stolen," Mandracchia said.

"First of all, I don't believe they had any knowledge that it was illegal," Mandracchia told Fox 29's Sheinelle Jones.

Asked if it was in fact illegal, the attorney said, "Well, that's another question for the court, and I'm not going to really comment on that."

He continued, "But they were directed in the policies and procedures of the district, based on being lost and stolen."

Lawyer: Cops Had Access To Photos

Tackling one of the allegations in the lawsuit, Mandracchia asserted, "It truly doesn't violate the wire tap act because there's no audio involved."

And he divulged that the IT department "had a private Web site for … some of these pictures for the Lower Merion Police Department to view, and they were the only ones allowed to view it."

So, Mandracchia argued that employees under those circumstances wouldn't have "knowledge that it's, that you're doing anything inappropriate or illegal or unethical or anything of that nature."

Asked if his client might have been put on leave for exceeding her authority, Mandracchia said there were no accusations of anything improper.

As for who knew about the software, Mandracchia said, "It was pretty public within the school because at one time there were six computers that were reported missing in an auditorium, and the students knew that they were turning on these cameras to locate them. … I mean, look, they probably should have known because it was out there, but whether they knew or not, I can't speculate on that."

Robbins claims in the class-action lawsuit that he had no idea his laptop had a remote tracking device. He said he was told by an assistant principal what he was doing in his own home and accused of inappropriate behavior – which he says was actually eating Mike & Ike candies.

The assistant principal named in the suit has denied several of the lawsuit's claims.

So far, there has been no official comment from Lower Merion police. The lawyer representing Robbins says he is not commenting on the latest twist in this case.

The district said in a statement Friday that, "The district generally does not comment on personnel matters, but we feel compelled to do so in the interest of longtime staffers. Placing them on administrative leave with pay is not a reflection of any wrongdoing on their part. It is just standard."

Attorney Amy Feldman, a regular Fox 29 News contributor, is a Lower Merion district parent and said putting the workers on leave sounds fishy.

"It's concerning because it makes you wonder, if they were just following orders, per district policy, what is it that caused a leave? They haven't been arrested, there's no charges, but even to put them on leave makes me concerned," Feldman said.

And, though the district acknowledges the tracking software wasn't mentioned in computer user agreements, it seems there may have been ways for parents to learn about it.

Some district parents – most of them lawyers – met last week to discuss excluding themselves from parties to the class-action lawsuit. One of those parents told Feldman he was once at a lightly-attended school information meeting where IT specialists made mention of the tracking capabilities.

If Lower Merion police were also getting this evidence and using it to track down missing computers, Feldman said that puts things in a different light.

"That goes into the district's statements all along, which is we didn't take any streaming web videos of your daughters in your bedrooms. All we were doing was taking a still shot when a laptop that had been reported