A clerk in US District Court in Boston yesterday released Eric Tran Thai to "home detention" as he awaits trial on five counts of sexual exploitation of children for the videos he allegedly took in Boston Latin School boys' rooms on at least ten occasions in 2017.

Under the order issued Monday, Thai is allowed to leave home for work, religious services, medical appointments - including mental-health treatment ordered by the probation department - attorney meetings and family visits. He was ordered to stay away from Boston Latin School in particular and other places in general where minors might congregate, including parks, playgrounds, libraries and fast-food restaurants.

Thai was also ordered to keep his hands off any video cameras - and to notify probation officers should he come into possession of other devices that are not primarily meant as video cameras, but which can shoot video, such as smartphones.

His federal charges come after he was charged in Middlesex Superior Court in January on one count of photographing an unsuspecting nude person for two incidents in February, 2018 in men's rooms at Boston College.

In that case, a Middlesex Superior Court judge released Thai on personal recognizance at his arraignment, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney's office. The judge also ordered him to turn over his passport and to stay away from BC.

Officials said yesterday that investigators are continuing to comb through the "26 computer hard drives, 20 thumb drives, 27 covert and regular cameras, 14 computers, iPads, and cell phones, and multiple SD and Sim cards," they say they found at Thai's Dorchester home. In addition to the Boston Latin and BC incidents, he is also a suspect in similar incidents at a variety of colleges and public places in the Boston area and abroad.