An IUP Senior was found guilty at a trial of a felony wiretap violation.
In a news release, District Attorney Robert Manzi said that Jared Schafkopf was found guilty on Thursday of intercepting communications for recording Dr. Rachelle Bouchat using a secret GoPro camera during a conversation in her private office. He claimed that Bouchat was discriminating against him because of his religious beliefs.
During that secretly recorded discussion, Bouchat remained calm and professional despite Schafkopf’s efforts to bait her into an argument. During the trial, he did not produce any evidence that his grades were being affected during a 100 level math course and admitted to the grades being fair. He admitted in court that he had a number of social media accounts and was actively working to try to build online content. While he said he never intended to release the video online, his own witnesses claimed that he appeared in the video to speak to a crowd.
Manzi said that he was happy with the verdict, saying the verdict reinforces that everyone has a right to privacy, and that Schafkopf had no care for Dr. Bouchat’s rights to privacy or how the video would affect her life.
Schafkopf will have a sentencing hearing on October 9th in front of Indiana County President Judge William Martin.
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