Centre Pompidou confirms hidden camera found in women’s restroom

A hidden camera was found in the women’s restroom of the administrative headquarters of Paris’ Centre Pompidou, the cultural institution confirmed to Urgent Matter.

The headquarters are located inside the main building of the Centre Pompidou complex, which also houses the Musée National d’Art Moderne. The museum is currently closed for renovations.

The institution—which also includes a public library, performance spaces and a cinema—said it filed a complaint with public prosecutors as required under French law.

“The center confirms that a staff member was very quickly identified as the presumed author and immediately suspended,” the institution said in a statement to Urgent Matter.

“An exhaustive inspection of all restrooms across the office buildings has confirmed the absence of any other image or video capture devices.”

The institution said staff members could meet with its human resources department or the medical department if desired.

Centre Pompidou sent a message to staff Tuesday, which was reviewed by AFP. In it, the institution said the camera was found on January 14.

An anonymous staff member told the news wire that the camera was found by a colleague while using the restroom, and that workers were left “traumatized by this.”

The incident comes as, separately, Centre Pompidou’s planned New Jersey outpost was officially cancelled by the mayor of Jersey City.

Meanwhile, Paris’ Museum of Romantic Life reopened on Valentine’s Day after a year-and-a-half renovation project.

The small museum, in French the Musée de la Vie Romantique, is dedicated to the art and literature of the Romantic era in cultural history located in the former home of Dutch-born Romantic painter Ary Scheffer.

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