Ex-teacher pleads guilty to taking video up students’ skirts

MEDFORD, N.J. – A former New Jersey high school teacher accused of using a camera hidden inside a drink container to take videos up the skirts of female students has pleaded guilty.

Investigators say 44-year-old Eric Howell placed the container in his briefcase to capture video as he walked near girls at Lenape High School in Medford. He was suspended last year when someone noticed an apparent attempt to position his briefcase beneath a student’s skirt. He was later fired.

Howell pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of endangering the welfare of a child. His plea agreement calls for a five-year prison sentence.