UPDATE: Complaints made against Penn High School custodian before voyeurism arrest

December 04, 2011|By Ed Ernstes, WSBT-TV Reporter

Robert Troup, 53, is due in court Monday at 1 p.m. to face three felony charges of voyeurism. Two former coworkers of Troup's say there had been complaints made about him years before his arrest.

“He was a time bomb waiting to happen,” said Jennifer Miller.

Miller says she was a coworker of Troup's more than ten years ago when she was quite young – only 21 or so. She worked with him on the custodial staff at Penn High School.

Troup was her shift leader at the time and she says he sexually harassed her. She describes what happened when she asked him to stop.

“He thought it was funny one night to chase me around the break room and give me wet willies,” she said, “and at that point I did have a conversation with him and I [asked him] to stop and after that he become violent to me. He would make threats toward me. One time he told me he was going to rip off my head, and stuff, if I wouldn't just drop things.”

She says she did report the incident to police and school administration the next day, but she says her complaint never went anywhere.

She says she did notify her boss, saying she was afraid of Troup. We talked to her boss by phone Sunday. He says he doesn't remember that happening.

But Jennifer says she'll never forget her dealings with Troup

“They should have done something about him a long time ago,” she said. “And I am here to speak today, to say that it happened back then.”

Another former coworker of Troup's, who asked us to conceal her identity, says she also took her complaints to the administration about 12 years ago after Troup got angry with her for cleaning in his assigned area at the high school. At the time she was 7 months pregnant.

“He saw me out there,” she said, “came over to me and grabbed my arm, pulled me and pushed me and used profanity and said ‘Get out of here now!’”

She says she transferred to a job at another school out of fear and intimidation.

“I hope he gets the full extent of the law and I hope they find out everything that they need to,” she said.

We tried to reach P-H-M's spokeswoman Teresa Carroll for comment, but so far our calls have not been returned.

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