An Ignacio school janitor suspected of taking video up the skirt of a woman at Walmart earlier this year in Durango pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification and sexual exploitation of a child.

Jaime Flores-Carbajal, who is free on bail, was placed on administrative leave in May by Ignacio School District.

Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto said he will remain on leave until the outcome of his legal proceedings.

“A person is innocent until proven guilty,” Fuschetto said.

The arrest affidavit said Flores-Carbajal is suspected of standing next to a woman in Walmart in May with a cellphone in his hand, positioned below her skirt.

The woman told police she could see the phone was recording in video mode.

Flores-Carbajal left the store in a hurry in a newer-model Ford F-150 with darkly tinted windows, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance video at Walmart captured photos of the suspect and his vehicle, which police distributed in an effort to identify him.

An anonymous tipster identified the suspect as Flores-Carbajal, and he was later arrested outside of Ignacio city limits.

It is uncertain why Flores-Carbajal is also charged with sexual exploitation of a child because nothing in the affidavit discusses a child victim.

Law enforcement and prosecutors sometimes file additional charges if they discover new offenses while investigating evidence.

District Attorney Christian Champagne declined to comment about the new charge.

“We believe we have evidence to support the charge, but it wouldn’t be proper for me to divulge the details of the case in order to protect the integrity of the investigation and prosecution,” he said in an earlier interview.

District Judge William Herringer set Flores-Carbajal’s pretrial conference for March 9.

mrupani@durangoherald.com