A Baltimore County Fire Department paramedic testified in court this week that he was being artistic when he posted videos of himself masturbating while at his workplace and at home, and denied that items he used in the videos belonged to relatives or colleagues.

Christopher M. Carroll, a 37-year-old paramedic, also denied allegations that he ejaculated and urinated on personal items that belonged to his family during a civil hearing in Harford County District Court on Monday.

The hearing was held after Carroll’s estranged wife filed a protection order against him, alleging he masturbated on her toothbrush and inside a mouthwash bottle.

“There’s also other titles [of videos] saying ‘my roommate’s something or other,’ or my friends or my coworkers,” Carroll said, according to a transcript of the proceedings. “And all of the above is all role play. It didn’t actually belong to anybody else.”

Both the fire department and Baltimore County Police are investigating an employee for alleged workplace misconduct, including ejaculating and urinating on fire equipment, food items and iceboxes, while working at various fire stations, two sources familiar with the investigation previously told The Banner.

Neither police nor fire officials confirmed Carroll is the employee they are investigating, and no criminal charges have been filed. However, during the hearing, Carroll’s wife said Baltimore County police detectives informed her Carroll was under investigation, according to court records.

Spokespeople for the police and fire departments declined to answer additional questions about the case, citing the ongoing investigation and the fire department’s policy of not commenting on personnel matters. Steve Redmer, president of Baltimore County firefighters union IAFF Local 1311, also declined to comment due to the ongoing police investigation.

Neither Carroll nor his attorney, Shannon Kowitz, responded to requests for comment.

‘All role play’

In court, Carroll acknowledged he produced sexually explicit content for subscriber-only pornography websites as well as free social media pages.

A review of videos — uploaded by usernames that sources previously said matches the handles Carroll used on his accounts — shows that the majority of the videos allegedly depicting colleagues’ belongings or that were filmed inside a fire station are no longer accessible.

For instance, a video tagged “COWORKER,” “VANDALISM,” “EVIL” and “MARKING,” with references to a coworker’s lip balm, was deleted.

The Nottingham resident said the content was “all role play” and described his videos as parodies, scripted and artistic in nature.

“Mr. Carroll, to be very clear with the court, have you ever knowingly contaminated anything that you believe belong to someone else?” Kowitz asked during the hearing.

“No,” he said.

Carroll’s wife filed a petition for a protection order in December, alleging that Carroll filmed himself ejaculating onto his wife’s mouthwash and toothbrush, as well as urinating in a family marinade and then posted those videos online, court records show.

Carroll acknowledged he filmed such videos but said the mouthwash and toothbrush belonged to him and that the marinade was never served to his family.

Harford County District Judge Kerwin A. Miller Sr. granted Carroll’s wife the protective order, which requires Carroll to stay away from the couple’s home for the next year.

According to court records, Carroll moved out last August. His wife has filed for divorce.

Ongoing investigation

While county officials did not respond to questions about the ongoing investigation, Baltimore County Fire Chief Joseph Dixon has previously told staff the employee is “not in the workplace at this time,” according to emails obtained by The Baltimore Banner.

Dixon also said the investigation prompted the department to initiate hazmat cleaning of all stations and offices. This included sanitizing bathrooms, kitchens, bunk rooms, floors, water fountains and high-touch surfaces, such as door handles and light switches.

In one email to the fire department, Dixon wrote that lockers and appliances would be cleaned “inside and out.” Vehicles assigned to certain speciality units also would undergo cleaning, and all ice machines would be replaced, he said.

The chief added that the professional cleaning was expected to be completed by Dec. 23.

In response to the allegations, the county was making counseling, peer support services, crisis resources and health testing available to fire employees, Dixon said.