A Fitchburg State University student has been suspended from school and is facing charges for secretly video recording his roommate in the nude.

James Lucas, 23, of 288 Littleton Road, Chelmsford, was arraigned Thursday in Fitchburg District Court on charges of photographing an unsuspecting nude person and unlawful wiretapping. He was released by Judge Andrew Mandell on personal recognizance and ordered to appear for a pretrial hearing June 7.

Mr. Lucas was arrested in February after his male roommate in a Fitchburg State dormitory contacted campus police to report that he and friends had discovered a hidden video camera in their room.

Police said the victim told them he discovered the camera when attempting to play a prank on Mr. Lucas while he was away for the weekend. He said he and his friends had planned to change the background on Mr. Lucas' laptop computer, which he left on a desk in the room. When they opened the computer, they discovered a live camera feed which was recording the victim's side of the dorm room. He and his friends searched the room and found a video camera set up under clothes in a laundry basket. They determined the camera had been recording for 30 hours. They also found several recordings from the past, including some showing the victim in various stages of undress, including nude.

When confronted by campus police Officer Lesley Hampson three days later, Mr. Lucas reportedly admitted to recording his roommate. He said he was concerned that his belongings were being moved and the blankets on his bed being altered. When told his roommate saw he had recorded him nude, Mr. Lucas said he kept the video clips “because he was bisexual and his roommate was cute.”

In the officer's report filed with court documents, Officer Hampson said Mr. Lucas recorded his roommate's side of the room twice, once during the fall semester when the nude images were taken and once the weekend when he was away.

Mr. Lucas told police he did not set up the camera a second time hoping to capture more nude images of his roommate. Nude images were not captured in the second taping. He also said he did not share the images with anyone. He said he did not secretly tape any other place on campus.

Matthew Bruun, a spokesman for Fitchburg State University, said that as soon as the allegations were made against Mr. Lucas in February, he was placed on interim restriction and not allowed onto the campus. Since then there was a judicial hearing at the university at which Lucas was ordered suspended from school pending the results of the criminal case and further on-campus judicial review.

Mr. Bruun said he continues to be barred from the campus and any university activities.

“If he sets foot on campus he will be arrested,” he said.

The arrest comes on the heels of two high profile cases involving college students improperly video recording another student. In September 2010, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi killed himself after his roommate recorded him having sex with another man, and shares the video with others on campus. His roommate, Dharum Ravi, 19, was convicted in March of a hate crime, evidence tampering and invasion of privacy. He faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for May.

Also, a Boston College football player Jayrd Rudolph, 19, was arraigned in March for illegally audiotaping a teammate and a female graduate student having sex. Mr. Rudolph was a defensive tackle for the Boston College football team.