Former teacher convicted of recording students undressing

TAMPA, Fla. – A former Florida teacher was convicted Thursday of secretly recording 124 students and an adult teacher undressing over a period of nearly two years.

Mark William Ackett, 52, pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County Circuit Court to more than 300 counts of video voyeurism, the Tampa Bay Times reported. He faces the possibility of life in prison at his May 10 sentencing.

Ackett, who taught fashion design and coached girls track at Bloomingdale High School, quit shortly after his 2018 arrest.

A 17-year-old student was changing clothes in a dressing area inside a fashion design classroom in September 2018 when she noticed a box on a shelf with a light coming from it, investigators said. She found a cellphone recording a video inside the box and told the school’s principal, who contacted the sheriff’s office.

Ackett admitted to deputies that he had been recording students without their knowledge, officials said. The recordings began in January 2017.