PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Six women are suing a former Temple University assistant football coach, accusing him of secretly recording them in the shower and bedroom of his home in Philadelphia.
The lawsuit claims Antoine Smith used hidden cameras to record the women he hired as dogsitters through the app Rover.
The women said the cameras were disguised as normal household objects, like speakers, alarm clocks and AC adapters.
Rover and Temple University are also named in the lawsuit. It accuses Temple of being aware of similar behaviors by Smith in previous instances yet enabling “his predatory, improper, and unseemly interactions with young women.”
Prior to joining the Temple staff in early 2022, Smith was a coach at Colorado State University from January 2020 to December 2021. During that time, CSU athletes and athletic staff accused Smith of “racial insensitivity, emotional abuse, sexual misconduct, and retaliation,” according to the complaint.
However, the suit claims no action was taken by CSU despite the issues being brought to the school’s attention.
Soon into his time at Temple, Smith was reported to the administration for “inappropriate conduct.”
According to the complaint, Smith:
— asked female students to hang out with him on the weekends, to party on his boat, and inappropriate questions about their sex lives;
— told female students he wanted to be their “sugar daddy”;
— promised them jobs in the sports industry while making overt sexual requests or statements.
The suit accuses Temple leadership of not investigating the reports further, claiming they were aware that Smith “was using his position as a coach to leverage and justify the need for students to dogsit for him in his home.”
While the women were at his home dogsitting, lawyers said Smith would watch them through the live feed of the hidden cameras and attempt to stage situations where the women would be naked. He also encouraged them to invite over other women and “party.”
Temple said it is “currently reviewing the complaint and will respond in the appropriate forum.”
Smith's attorney, Fortunato N. Perri, said in a statement to KYW the "allegations being made are false and without merit." And that "there is no evidence that anyone was observed or recorded in a bathroom or bedroom. Mr. Smith has fully cooperated with law enforcement and he is prepared to refute any and all false claims in a civil courtroom."
The women are also suing Rover, claiming Smith’s account was reported during his time in Colorado for “inappropriate conduct,” but he was not removed from the platform.
A spokesperson for Rover said, “There is no place in our community for people who knowingly violate the privacy of others.”