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Invasive recording suspect out of jail
New video shows the man accused of recording people inside of a Woodlands hospital leaving the Montgomery County Jail on Thursday night.
HOUSTON - Robert Shrader, 41, a former employee of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, is now facing six additional charges of invasive visual recording after being arrested on one original count Wednesday, according to court records. Documents say seven total victims have been identified through videos captured in hospital bathrooms.
The allegations
What we know:
Court records say Shrader is seen on video of the camera he was installing in the ceiling tile of one of those bathrooms on August 31, but investigators say the two cameras could have been hidden since earlier this year.
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office investigators say on August 22 they responded to the hospital after maintenance workers found a hidden camera in one of the bathrooms.
Records say inside the camera was an SD card with 177 images on it. Records say a second SD card was found in Shrader's desk with 131 images on it. The seven victims identified so far were from footage on the first SD card, the second one has yet to be analyzed.
Investigators say an additional camera was found in another hospital bathroom. One restroom was located on the second floor across from the labor and delivery unit, and the other was on the third floor inside the Medical Surgical Unit.
The suspect
Dig deeper:
According to a now deleted LinkedIn account, Shrader identified himself as the Director of Patient Care of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center.
Cypress Fairbanks ISD recently shared with FOX 26 that Shrader worked in CFISD as a substitute from Oct. 1, 2006 until January 2007. He was employed as a teacher at Cypress Ranch High School from Jan. 3, 2007 until Dec. 30, 2011.
Shrader posted his bond and was released from the Montgomery County Jail on August 28.
The response
The other side:
His defense attorney, Brian Folly, provided the following statement:
"Thank you for contacting my office. I'd be glad to speak with you, but we have very little information from the State at this point as they have provided much more to the media than directly to my office. I would ask that you keep in mind the presumption of innocence in our country to which every person is entitled. Robert has no criminal history of any kind and has had no opportunity to assert his innocence in court nor an opportunity for my office to review any alleged evidence of wrongdoing. If you run any other stories on the matter, I would like to provide you with this photo of Robert that more accurately reflects the entire 40 years of his life that he has lived prior to the mugshot created by the government recently."
Robert Shrader
What they're saying:
Memorial Hermann confirmed they fired Shrader due to the allegations. They provided this statement:
We would like to thank the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, who is leading the investigation, and all other law enforcement agencies who are assisting in this matter.
We are shocked, deeply upset and offended by this individual’s illegal and reprehensible behavior, which not only has affected our workforce, patients and the communities we serve at our Woodlands Campus, but also violated the trust placed in him and failed us all.
Our highest priority is ensuring the safety, privacy and well-being of everyone who enters our facilities, and we have zero tolerance for such conduct. Upon learning of the unacceptable behavior of this individual, who has been identified as Robert Shrader, we immediately engaged law enforcement and terminated him. We also reviewed his employment records and confirmed there were no related complaints filed.
We have performed security sweeps across the Woodlands Campus. We are also partnering with law enforcement on a broader response plan for all of our facilities.
We will continue our full and ongoing cooperation with the investigation and, equally important, doing all we can to provide compassionate support to our employees and all those who may have been impacted."
What you can do:
If you think you might be a victim of the recording, email mhtwtips@mctx.org with your name and reliable contact information, so detectives can easily reach you.
The Source: Information was given by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Cyfair ISD, Attorney Brian Folley and court documents.