West Virginia State Police were accused of planting hidden cameras to spy on women, from energetic law enforcement officers to recruits training at the academy, some of whom have been minors.

Two of the energetic West Virginia regulation enforcement officers concerned within the civil swimsuit, Brenda Lesnett and Megan Talkington, spoke with CNN’s Brynn Gingras for the section that aired on The Lead with Jake Tapper with guest host Abby Phillip.

Lesnett and Talkington are two of round 70 women suing the department after an anonymous letter addressed to the state’s high lawmakers with the allegations was made public in February. Among the allegations of misconduct, which are said to have taken situation over a 10-year period, are a hidden camera device arrange within the women’s locker room and showers at the West Virginia Police Academy. One of the vital imaginable victims are minors who took section in a junior software. Lesnett and Talkington mentioned there might be “a whole lot, if not thousands” of complete victims.

Teresa Toriseva, an attorney representing the ladies in the suit, known as the West Virginia State Police a “adversarial, misogynistic, toxic environment that’s now not simply male-dominated, it’s anti-woman.”

Lesnett and Talkington advised Gingras that even years after they went via their training after the academy, the information that they were probably filmed with out their consent haunts them:

Lesnett: I was once shocked to listen to that took place. I used to be totally appalled. And the extra I thought of it, the angrier I obtained. Sitting right here these days, I nonetheless feel exposed, and I’m repeatedly questioning who’s gonna see me subsequent, who has already seen me? It’s very nerve-wracking.

Talkington: Am I gonna have to maintain this the rest of my life? Ten years from now, is this gonna convey up on the Dark Web, on the regular web, I don’t understand.

The state didn’t dispute the existence of the digital camera, and Governor Jim Justice (R) addressed the allegations in March following the nameless letter:

There was three troopers that discovered a thumb power. And absolutely from that, they found the video. After which, from what I bear in mind, one, if no longer all, you realize, immediately jerked the thumb power out and threw it on the ground, and began stomping on it.

Lesnett and Talkington stated they fear “retaliation” after talking out against their agency and colleagues, with Talkington announcing she and Lesnett “are going to have a goal on our backs.”

Watch the entire video via CNN.

The submit Lawsuit Accuses West Virginia Police of Spying, The usage of Hidden Cameras on Women and Minors at Academy Over 10-Yr Length first appeared on Mediaite.