UGA employee arrested after cameras found in locker room showers
The University of Georgia has fired an assistant equipment manager with the football program who was arrested for alleged drug possession and felony eavesdropping.
Kevin Purvis, 37, was taken into custody at Athens-Clarke County Jail on Friday night and charged with four felony counts and one misdemeanor, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He was still being held there as of Saturday morning.
Three of the alleged felonies involve eavesdropping or surveillance, while the other is related to possession of a controlled substance.
He was also charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly possessing less than 1 ounce of marijuana.
Purvis was arrested roughly a month after a hidden camera was found in the shower area of UGA’s Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
“UGA officials notified police on Feb. 27 and officers searched the football team’s locker room, training facility and weight room, as well as Purvis’ car and home,” ESPN reported.
According to the AJC, several witnesses saw police search a car they they thought belonged to Purvis while the school played a baseball game across the street.
According to UGA spokesperson Claude Felton, the school fired Purvis early on in the investigation.
“As soon as it learned of the incident, the Athletic Association notified the University of Georgia Police Department, who began their investigation,” Felton said.
“The University took immediate action, and the employee was terminated early in the investigation. Based on the findings of the police investigation, no student-athletes were victims in this incident,” he added.
As noted by the AJC, illegal eavesdropping or surveillance is defined by Georgia law as an action by “any person, through the use of any device, without the consent of all persons observed, to observe, photograph, or record the activities of another which occur in any private place and out of public view; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful.”
Purvis, who is originally from Ocilla, Georgia, started working for UGA in 2006.
His responsibilities included “ordering and accounting for the Bulldogs football equipment, while also assisting the Football Equipment Manager with directing practice and game-day equipment efforts for the team,” according to his bio on UGA’s website.
Prior to that, he handled Valdosta State’s football equipment.
Purvis was being held in jail Saturday on $16,000 bond.
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