Rutgers Research Dean Barred From Campus After Arrest Over 'Upskirt' Videos

Rutgers University has placed the dean of research at its School of Environmental and Biological Sciences on leave and barred him from the university's campus in New Brunswick, N.J., following his arrest over 'upskirt' videos found on his personal device.

The university identified the administrator as Josh Kohut and confirmed the personnel action, saying he had been placed on leave and prohibited from entering campus grounds while the criminal matter proceeds. Beyond confirming the leave and the campus ban, the university shared few details about the case.

Kohut has served as dean of research at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, a unit of Rutgers University–New Brunswick that houses programs in agriculture, food science, ecology and marine and coastal sciences. The school traces its roots to New Jersey's land-grant agricultural college and supports research stations and extension programs across the state, making its research dean one of the more prominent administrative posts in the university's science community.

The arrest centers on so-called upskirt recordings — images or video captured beneath a person's clothing without consent, typically in public settings where victims have no idea they are being filmed. The videos at issue were allegedly stored on Kohut's personal device rather than on university-owned equipment. Authorities have not publicly said where the recordings were made, how many exist, or whether any were taken on campus.

New Jersey treats such conduct as a serious offense. Under the state's invasion-of-privacy statute, secretly photographing or recording another person's intimate parts without consent is generally a third-degree crime, carrying a potential prison term of three to five years and fines of up to $15,000. Sharing or distributing such images can bring additional criminal counts.

Placing an employee on leave while barring campus access is a standard interim step for universities confronting criminal allegations against senior staff, and it does not constitute a finding of guilt. Rutgers–New Brunswick, the flagship of the state university system, enrolls more than 40,000 students, and its policies allow administrators to restrict campus access when an employee's presence is judged a potential concern during an active case.

Prosecutions involving surreptitious recordings have climbed steadily as smartphone cameras have grown smaller and more capable. College campuses, transit systems and crowded public venues have all featured in such cases across the country, and many states have tightened voyeurism statutes written long before the smartphone era to cover covert recording beneath clothing.

Kohut's case will now move through the criminal courts, where he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Universities typically run parallel internal reviews under their own conduct policies, and those administrative proceedings can reach conclusions on a lower standard of proof than a criminal conviction requires.

For now, the university's position is unambiguous: one of its senior research administrators is off campus and on leave while the allegations work through the legal system, and the school has given no indication of when, or whether, he might return.