Steven Bittel

Steven Bittel appeared in Stow Municipal Court on Monday via a video link.

(Adam Ferrise, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

Steven Bittel

STOW, Ohio — Investigators tracked 68 files containing child pornography to the computer of Nordonia school board president Steven Bittel, court records say.

New details emerged Monday as Bittel made his first appearance in Stow Municipal Court. Judge Kim Coates set Bittel's bond at $750,000.

The judge said she had "grave concerns" about Bittel harming himself or others if released on house arrest. If Bittel posted bail he would be placed on GPS monitored house arrest and be barred from being near minors.

Bittel, who barricaded himself in his Sagamore Hills home on Friday in a four-hour standoff with police, is on suicide watch at the Summit County Jail, officials and his attorney said on Monday.

Bittel is charged with second-degree felony pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, three counts of third-degree felony aggravated assault, one third-degree felony charge of discharging a firearm and one misdemeanor count of inducing panic.

The Nordonia school board will meet on Monday to discuss legal options they have in ousting Bittel from the board.

New court records released on Monday give a brief description of the investigation into Bittel.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began its investigation into Bittel Aug. 6 after and an investigator searched "child pornography" on the peer-to-peer file-sharing network called ARES, according to court records.

The investigator found Bittel's IP address was a "potential download candidate" for at least 68 child porn files, court records say. The investigator searched the IP address trying to download the files through Time Warner Cable's database. The address came back to Bittel, records say.

One of the files downloaded to Bittel's IP address is described in court records as a five-minute video of a "slightly pubescent girl" undressing and performing sex acts on herself, according to Stow Municipal Court records.

Sagamore Hills police and ICAC investigators served the search warrant on Friday. At one point, Bittel grabbed a revolver, barricaded himself in a bathroom and fired a warning shot.

No one was injured. A friend talked Bittel into surrendering to police.

Investigators searched through Bittel's Ballantrae Drive home and seized:

A Dell desktop computer

An external USB drive

An iPad mini

A Sony digital media player

A SnapCam

A cellphone

Miscellaneous handwritten notes

Bittel's attorney James Burdon said Bittel's family, including his wife of 23 years and other family members who attended Monday's hearing, are giving Bittel "total unqualified support."

Burdon said Bittel had no issues prior to the arrest. Coates said Bittel had two prior drunken-driving convictions but no other criminal records.

"What happened on that day, no matter how it's interpreted by other people, is nothing more than an emotional and psychological reaction that his whole life had changed in a very public way," Burdon said.

Bittel's next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 16.