Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a University of Florida professor after authorities said he secretly videotaped his underage daughter last year.
During October 2014, Manuel A. Vasquez, 53, placed a USB video recorder in his adopted daughter’s closet, according to a police report. She was 14 at the time.
An acquaintance of his daughter, who was also a minor, found the camera and watched the contents, not knowing what was on the device, according to the report.
Authorities found seven videos on the camera, and two contained images of either the daughter or Vasquez, according to the report.
He recorded himself stepping back to check the camera’s location several times. The second video also revealed his daughter topless, only wearing underwear, according to the report.Vasquez is a professor and chairman in the Department of Religion inside the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said.
“He has been placed on administrative leave,” she said.
Vasquez specializes in “the intersection of religion, immigration, and globalization in the Americas,” according to the college’s website.
After earning a doctorate in religion from Temple University in 1994, Vasquez served as an associate professor at UF for 12 years before becoming a full professor in 2011, according to his resume. He became the department’s chairman in 2012.
Police arrested Vasquez on charges for possession of obscene material and video voyeurism by someone over the age of 24 against a child under 16.
Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where, as of press time, he remains in lieu of a $20,000 bond.
Contact Giuseppe Sabella at gsabella@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Gsabella
Manuel A. Vasquez
