A former substitute teacher and teaching coach was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for filming girls at three Loudoun County, Virginia, high schools.
Samuel Christian Hermens, 31, pleaded guilty to up-skirting — walking closely behind girls and positioning his phone to try to capture images of their underwear.
The most recent offense occurred at Woodgrove High last October, and before that, at Broad Run and Loudoun Valley high schools.
“This man is a predator and he was going to do this until he got caught,” Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Nicole Wittmann said at the sentencing hearing. “When we send our children to school, we expect they will be safe, nurtured and protected by teachers and administrators.”
A news release from the commonwealth’s attorney’s office on the hearing in Loudoun County Circuit Court also detailed comments from one of Hermens’ victims. “I never thought this would happen to me,” the girl said. “Why would someone ever think of doing this?”
When Hermens is released from prison, he’ll be subject to 15 years of supervised probation and will have to register as a sex offender.
