Now-former employee accused of putting camera in restroom at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands

The WOODLANDS, Texas - A now-former employee has been charged after a camera was found in a restroom at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, officials say.

Court documents identified the suspect as Robert Pinon Shrader, who has been charged with seven counts of invasive visual recording.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said they were executing search warrants at his home in connection to the investigation on Wednesday morning.

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.

Recording device found in Memorial Hermann restroom

The allegations:

According to court documents, maintenance workers who were servicing the HVAC system found a camera hidden in the ceiling in the unisex restroom of the West Tower on Aug. 21. They turned it over to hospital security staff.

Security found images on the memory card of a man installing the camera, and hospital staff identified the man as Shrader, an employee, court documents state. 

According to court documents, the camera was positioned in a way to secretly capture images of people in various states of undress and had images of hospital employees using the restroom.

The hospital contacted law enforcement and turned over the camera.

Court documents state that a search of Shrader’s office at the hospital revealed a second Micro SD card in a desk drawer and a second camera still in the box.

Another camera was reportedly found in the ceiling of a single-occupancy public restroom in the West Tower’s third floor on Aug. 25. Authorities say it was identical to the first camera that was found.

According to court documents, the first of the SD cards had 177 videotaped images and showed multiple people using the restroom.

Authorities say the second SD card had 131 images, but they have not yet been analyzed.

Not everyone who was captured in the images has been identified.

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What they're saying:

Memorial Hermann gave 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.

Employee terminated

What they're saying:

In a statement on Monday, Memorial Hermann said, "We are aware of deeply concerning information regarding unacceptable behavior by an employee at our Woodlands campus. The employee has been terminated. Upon discovery, we took swift action and engaged the appropriate authorities. Our system has zero tolerance for such conduct, and we take these matters very seriously. The safety and privacy of our workforce, patients and visitors are our top priority. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement’s investigation and cannot comment further at this time."

"Memorial Hermann is fully cooperating with the MCSO Major Crimes Unit during this investigation. In addition to assisting law enforcement, the hospital has initiated a thorough search for any other devices that may have been installed within the facility," the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release earlier this week.

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