YORK COUNTY, Pa.– A former WellSpan York Hospital employee who was caught taking an “upskirt” photo of a teen girl last year has plead guilty to child pornography charges.
Benjamin Rice, 30, of Felton, pleaded guilty to child pornography and invasion of privacy charges on December 11, according to court records.
In exchange for his plea, Rice had three counts of child pornography and one count of intercepting communications dropped against him.
Rice was charged on April 15 after being caught taking the image of the teen girl, which led to the discovery of other illicit images and audio recordings on his cell phone, police say.
Some of the recordings Rice is accused of making were taken at Wellspan York Hospital, where he worked until December of last year, according to police.
Authorities say the investigation began last June, when an employee at the Great American Saloon in York Township called to report a male customer for taking an “upskirt” photo of a 16-year-old juvenile employee.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the business, which depicted a man, later identified as Rice, surreptitiously taking a photo of the girl as she bent over to place menus on a table, according to the criminal complaint.
Rice was still at the scene when police arrived, according to the criminal complaint. He was eating at a table with his family when police approached him. Rice began to “visibly shake” when police informed him he was seen on surveillance footage taking a photo of the girl, the criminal complaint states.
Police took Rice into custody and transported him to the police station for further interviews. He allegedly admitted to “upskirting” the girl, police say.
Investigators conducted a forensic examination of Rice’s cellphone, and discovered four images of child pornography, along with numerous “up-skirting” photos and a number of “secret” audio and video recordings, some of which, Rice admitted, were taken at his place of employment.
Rice admitted to making the recordings for “sexual gratification,” police say.
Now, he will be sentenced on February 25.
