Richard Gootee, and Megan Erbacher

Evansville

A Holy Rosary Catholic School teacher is accused of secretly video taping two students while they were using a restroom at the Evansville school.

Police arrested Ryan J. Belmonte, 26, on Thursday. He faces two counts of voyeurism, according to a probable cause affidavit. Belmonte's bond was set at $15,000 surety or $1,500 cash during a Friday hearing in Vanderburgh County Superior Court. That appearance was made in front of Judge Robert Pigman.

Belmonte posted bond after that hearing, according to court records. He did not return a Friday afternoon call from the Courier & Press seeking comment about his arrest.

He is next due in court on Wednesday at 10 a.m. By that time, formal charges will likely be filed in the case. Currently, Belmonte faces two preliminary counts of level 6 felony voyeurism. Belmonte has been an art teacher at Holy Rosary for three years and has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, said Daryl Hagan, the Catholic Diocese of Evansville Schools superintendent.

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Police started the investigation into Belmonte began after a 13-year-old student reported to a parent that he had found a phone hidden in a tissue box in a bathroom on Wednesday afternoon, and that the phone was recording him.

The parent alerted both the school and police. The teen was at an afterschool tutoring session with Belmonte, according to the affidavit.

The student reportedly told police that Belmonte told the teen to use the teachers' lounge bathroom, but that his teacher said he needed to use the restroom himself first.

During an interview with investigators, Belmonte first denied that the phone was recording video, according to the affidavit. But after police searched his phone and found a folder marked "hidden" with a recording of boy inside a restroom, Belmonte reportedly acknowledged that he has recorded people in the restroom of the teachers' lounge. The video police discovered was of another student, Belmonte allegedly told investigators.

That student, police believe, is a 10-year-old boy. Belmonte gave investigators his name, and a relative of the alleged victim later confirmed that it was the 10-year-old, according to the affidavit. Investigators then interviewed the boy who said he used the bathoom on Wednesday while in Belmonte's art class. The student said Belmonte asked him if he needed to go use the restroom and then went into the room before the student did. It is unclear from the affidavit if that incident happened in the teachers' lounge bathroom or another one at the school.

Police were unable to locate the tissue box allegedly used to hide Belmonte's phone and believe Belmonte had thrown it away before they started looking for it on Thursday.

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Belmonte said he has only recorded two students but sometimes hid his cell phone in the bathroom at random times to record whomever used the bathroom during that time, investigators wrote in the affidavit.

He also told investigators that he has recordings of some of friends who used the bathroom while visiting the school. Belmonte declined to name any of the other subjects he reportedly has video of.

As part of the investigation, police seized a laptop that Belmonte said he uses to store videos he has taken from his phone. According to the affidavit, investigators asked Belmonte why he would make such recordings, and he responded that it was curiosity.

In his statement to the Courier & Press, Hagan said officials are "committed to providing the safest environment for the thousands of students."

After releasing that statement, Hagan also called a news conference to address Belmonte's arrest. During that, Hagan said he was "sad and disappointed" about the case but applauded school officials for working with police. He also announced that school resources and representatives from Youth First would be available for anyone who needed to use them.

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