On May 7, 2024, residents of Villanova University’s Sullivan Hall received correspondence from the University Department of Public Safety outlining an alleged incident involving the breach of student privacy.
Nicknamed the “Sully Shower Creeper” by fellow students, a Villanova sophomore was found to have allegedly used a cell phone to record video footage of his male peers in the communal bathroom shower stalls. The defendant has since been identified as John Lambiris, 20, of New York City. At the time of the incident, Lambiris was a second-year student in the Villanova School of Business as a finance and accounting double major.
A criminal complaint was officially submitted by Public Safety to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Delaware County. The complaint, filed by Sgt. James Simpson, outlined the response of campus police following a call to Sullivan Hall, a sophomore dormitory situated on the main campus.
According to the complaint, on May 6, 2024, around 10:20 a.m., campus police were called to the scene in the second-floor bathroom regarding a privacy violation.
The victim reported to police that he observed a cell phone protruding from beneath the shower curtain. He opened the curtain to reveal Lambiris, who was fully clothed and concealed behind another curtain.
The victim confronted the defendant and seized his cell phone, which contained a video showing Lambiris walking around the bathroom with a towel draped over his pajama pants. The footage then showed Lambiris lowering the phone beneath the victim’s curtain, capturing the victim fully unclothed, before the recording ended suddenly.
The police obtained a copy of the video through a recording made by the victim on his own phone, capturing the footage from Lambiris’s device. Timestamps from the video read 9:54 a.m.
Lambiris has been charged with invasion of privacy – to view, photograph, etc. a person without consent. It has not been confirmed whether there are additional videos of a similar nature from the defendant.
A preliminary hearing for Lambiris has been set for August 22, 2024.
The news rapidly spread across campus in the days preceding summer break. Male students residing in Sullivan Hall during the past academic year have expressed concern for sharing restroom facilities with the alleged violator.
“Having just moved out of that floor and using that same bathroom for a whole year, hearing about the incident made me feel disgusted,” Ethan Lee, sophomore Sullivan Hall resident, said. “There is only so much that Villanova can teach about ethics and morals. I hope he finds the support he needs. Ultimately, I am glad Lambiris was caught and removed from campus, all thanks to the victim’s quick actions, preventing further incidents like this from happening and going unnoticed.”
Sophomore Aryan Patel shared similar sentiments.
“I’ve heard of these things happening on the news but seeing how closely this happened [to us], taking place in the same bathroom I would shower in daily, was telling as to how frequent and real these things are,” Patel said.
“University police immediately launched an investigation into the incident and the student alleged to have made the recording is no longer on campus,” a statement from the University read.
The University has demonstrated that student and community safety is of the utmost priority.
As this investigation remains “active and ongoing,” the University is unable to provide any additional comments at this time.
Villanova has not been spared from such crimes in the past, as a comparable event occurred in 2016.
Vincent Kane, a former Villanova student, was discovered illicitly photographing students in bathroom stalls of a University academic building for sexual gratification. Following further investigation, Kane was arrested under felony charges of possession of child pornography, sexual abuse of children, criminal use of communications facility and intercepting communications.
Villanova’s Public Safety Department has promptly responded to both incidents and remains vigilant in ensuring campus safety. The recurrence of such events on campus raises concerns and necessitates a deeper examination into the effectiveness of security measures.
Nevertheless, it remains crucial to prevent additional breaches of privacy by maintaining awareness of one’s surroundings and promptly reporting any suspicious activity to authorities.
