A former Berwick Academy teacher will spend 30 days in jail for surreptitiously videotaping female students and downloading the images onto a school computer.

Brian Sanborn, 55, of Sanford was arrested nearly two years ago after school officials and police were notified by students that the science teacher took videos underneath the skirts of unsuspecting female students. Police said Sanborn, who taught chemistry and was a girls’ basketball coach, had been taking the videos for more than a year before students noticed suspicious behavior and reported it.

Brian Sanborn

Sanborn was fired from the private school in South Berwick after admitting to inappropriate conduct involving students during the previous 12 to 18 months. He was arrested in May 2014.

Sanborn faced 10 counts of invasion of privacy. In a disposition filed in York County Superior Court on Feb. 8, Sanborn pleaded guilty to one count of invasion of privacy and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but 30 days suspended and two years of supervised release with conditions. The same sentence was applied to five additional counts. Four other counts were deferred to February 2017 and could be dismissed if he follows conditions set out by the court.

Police Chief Dana Lajoie said Sanborn’s conditions include no contact with minors and no contact with Berwick Academy staff. Sanborn must also stay off the Berwick Academy campus, seek and attend counseling and is not allowed to possess video recording equipment.

Sanborn apparently used a small digital video camera that could fit in the palm of his hand, Lajoie said after Sanborn’s arrest. He would take videos while standing alongside female students, holding the camera in one hand and directing it underneath the teenagers’ skirts, the chief said. Sometimes, Sanborn would videotape girls’ cleavage while they concentrated on their chemistry experiments, according to police.

Most of the videos were taken in his classroom, often when students were at their desks, though some were taken elsewhere on campus, Lajoie said. Sanborn then downloaded the video clips to his work computer.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@pressherald.com

Twitter: grahamgillian