Ex-Seattle coach accused of filming scantily clad girls on trips

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A former Seattle private school coach has been indicted on child pornography related charges over accusations he secretly filmed teenage girls changing clothes or exiting the shower on annual cross-border ski trips, a U.S. Attorney's Office official said on Thursday. Jason Paur, 44, was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in December 2013 at Silver Star ski area in British Columbia after the girls found a camera hidden in their bedroom, U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said in a statement. "The camera had been positioned to video-tape the young students while they got dressed after showering," the statement said, adding that police found images of students ages 14 through 17 being filmed while changing clothes or after exiting the shower. According the indictment, the investigation revealed that Paur had secretly filmed students on such trips in 2011 and 2012, the statement said. He was removed from the field trip by chaperones, who notified police. Paur was later fired by The Bush School, an expensive school with students in kindergarten through high school in a leafy neighborhood near downtown Seattle, according to a search warrant affidavit. He coached at the school for more than 15 years. "This incident has deeply affected our community, and our steadfast objective since the arrest and over the weeks and months ahead is supporting our students and families and providing them with the counsel and comfort they need," the school said in a statement on Thursday. "The Bush School will continue to cooperate fully with Canadian and U.S. authorities," it added. According to the affidavit, a police officer who briefly viewed the footage said a "young female is seen coming out of the bathroom only wearing a towel. The female proceeded to get dressed and unknowingly exposes her naked body to this camera". Paur remains in Canadian custody and could face trial there in January, U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Emily Langlie said, adding that the case in Canada would need to be resolved before he is arraigned on charges in the United States. The indictment alleges Paur used the pictures for his own gratification and transported the images from Canada to the United States, and that he traveled with the students "to Canada knowing that he planned to film them for his own sexual gratification," the statement said. The specific charges are two counts of production and transportation of child pornography, as well as production of child pornography with the intent to transport, possession of child pornography and transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, the statement said. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Sandra Maler)