Staff members working for the Students’ Guild were responsible for filming and sharing CCTV footage of two students engaged in sexual activity during the Safer Sex Ball (SSB), Exeposé can exclusively reveal.
In a statement released to this paper, Guild senior management confirmed that members of their staff had been dismissed following a “rigorous investigation” into the culprit responsible for the leaked footage, which made international headlines last week.
The Students’ Guild told Exeposé: “We have identified the individuals involved, and in light of the seriousness of the breach have taken the strongest possible disciplinary action.
“We restate that given that the footage was taken without our permission, and that internal rules around security of CCTV were breached.”
Footage of the amorous couple having oral sex next to the Ram pool table was filmed by a member staff on a smart phone in the Ram’s CCTV monitoring room before the film leaked online. At the time of going to press, the Students’ Guild was unable to provide Exeposé with any further details as to how security measures were breached. They said: “With regret we are unable to provide details; the details are integral to the investigation and ongoing disciplinary action process.”
In the film, several individuals are clearly heard commenting on the footage. One male staff member asked: “Can I upload this to YouTube?”, before another colleague responded “no” twice.
Access to the Ram back office, where the CCTV monitoring screens are kept, was only accessible by staff working at the SSB. The Students’ Guild have told Exeposé that a small number of senior staff would have had access to the CCTV room, but weren’t able to tell us where the staff members were working at the time.
Students have reacted with surprise to the news. One female student told Exeposé: “There should have been greater control over access to the CCTV room, especially during the SSB. It’s such a shame that the charitable legacy of the SSB has been ruined, but I’m glad that staff member has been fired”.
Another claimed that: “The act itself was not shocking, but I feel really bad for the people caught on camera. It was very irresponsible of staff, of all people, to film that.”
A member of the Ram bar staff told Exeposé that normal security measures were not heightened on the night of the SSB: “Only senior members of staff are allowed access to the monitoring room. It is surprising that someone could have accessed it without running into staff and without prior knowledge of its location.
“Because it was such a big event the usual precautions were not in place so someone could have filmed the footage with ease”.
Devon and Cornwall Police said that the couple engaging in the sexual activity, could face prosecution. They said: “Putting CCTV footage on the internet without permission could contravene the law. That would namely be data protection laws and human rights legislation – the right to privacy.
Engaging in sexual activity in a public place could also constitute an offence, depending on the form of sexual activity.”
They added that if the footage was reported to them they would investigate the case as a crime.
The Students’ Guild has stated that “the police have have not been in contact with us regarding an investigation.” They added: “given the unlawful action of the individual who filmed the footage, the Guild shall support the police if there is one.”
Exeposé has learned that The Students’ Guild has yet to identify the couple in the footage, who they wish to speak to for welfare reasons.
The University also confirmed it would “inevitably” be speaking to the Guild about the security breach.
When asked if the news spelt the end for the SSB, the Students’ Guild said: “We are deeply saddened by the outcomes of the 2012 event but we do not want to lose sight of the positive work the event has done.”
The event has been running for over 20 years and generates a significant charitable contribution each year for Safer Sex Awareness charities in the South West. In addition to the event, and the charitable contributions, significant funding is put into educational campaign work for students as well – around World AIDs day each year.”
They added: “It would be a great shame if the actions of this individual undermined the campaign and charitable objectives of an event that in every other respect was well organised and incident free.”
News of the sex acts caught on camera was reported in the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun and in New York’s Daily News, provoking a strong reaction from commentators.
A “wider investigation” is ongoing.
Read more exclusive news, comment and editorials in the next Exeposé – out next Tuesday.
exeposedev 