Teen victims top 70 as detectives find more images recorded in Bloomingdale High changing area

TAMPA — A Bloomingdale High School teacher accused of hiding phones in a changing area to record students undressing was arrested again Friday after detectives found more photos and videos on devices seized during the investigation, deputies said.

Mark Ackett, 50, faces an additional 311 counts after investigators found 238 videos or images of students in various stages of undress and 72 videos and images showing female students with their breasts or buttocks exposed, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Another video showed an undressed adult, deputies said.

The additional charges bring the total number Ackett faces to 579.

Investigators have not released the total number of victims in the case, but an affidavit for a search warrant filed in December states there are at least 70. The students range in ages from 14 to 18, court records show.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former students wonder if trusted Bloomingdale High teacher made secret videos of them too

Ackett of Plant City was first arrested on Sept. 11, the same day a 17-year-old student in his class discovered two cell phones hidden in the classroom changing area where she and her classmates disrobed to try on garments they made for class assignments. Ackett, was also girls track coach, immediately resigned.

When deputies questioned him, they said he told them he started recording students in January 2017, when he was hired to teach fashion design and family consumer sciences. He also coached girls track.

After a forensic examination of Ackett's cell phones, Google accounts and other digital devices turned an additional 267 videos and images of girls, Ackett was arrested again in October and charged with 267 more counts of video voyeurism, 73 counts of production of harmful material of a minor and 13 counts of possession of child pornography.

In the latest arrest, Ackett was charged with 238 counts of video voyeurism as a school employee and 72 counts of production of harmful material using a minor. He faces an additional count of video voyeurism for the video of the adult.

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.