DENTON, Texas — The University of North Texas is warning gymgoers to be on the lookout after reports that someone secretly took photos of dozens of women working out and posted them to a lewd website.
The photos appeared to be taken without the women's consent and showed them bending over, stretching and using weights in the UNT Pohl Recreation Center.
"Girls' faces are in these, my face is even in them," said Kate, who asked WFAA not to identify her last name because the person who took and posted the photos "is still out there."
She said she searched for the photos after seeing a friend from the campus gym post about it. Since then, she said she's found photos of more than 50 different women -- all taken at the UNT gym.
"It’s awful because it’s out there on the internet and it’s not going to go away," Kate said.
The poster took down their account, Kate said, but she was still able to access photos of herself and other women on Google Images Friday by searching the poster's old username and the phrase "college girls."
In a statement, UNT said its police department immediately launched an investigation after becoming aware of social media posts about the photos last week.
"Since then, we have identified some individuals in the photos and have taken several reports," the statement said. "We urge anyone with any information about this or any other suspicious activity to please contact the police."
UNT said photography and video in the rec center's lockers, restrooms and aquatic facilities are prohibited, however, its statement did not mention a ban on photographs taken in the general workout rooms.
"Just because something’s legal does not make it okay," said Kate, who said she filed a report with UNT Police. "I have not gone back since. And I refuse to."
She said she has switched gyms, but now worries someone might be watching her, "I tie things around my waist to try to cover up."
Kate said it makes her sad, but mostly angry that this happened to her and so many other women at the gym -- and she said perhaps state law needs to change in order to stop it from happening again.
"I’m really determined to make sure that this doesn’t get slid under the rug," she said.