RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A 30-year-old counselor at a Seventh-Day
Adventist Christian school in Riverside is suspected of secretly
videotaping boys inside a bathroom on campus, police say.

Matthew Johnson, of Loma Linda, is accused of downloading and
distributing child pornography over the internet.

Riverside police say there are no indications that the videos
and images captured by the hidden camera at La Sierra Academy
were distributed. However, school administrators say Johnson has
since been terminated.

Parents were stunned to hear that Johnson was arrested on child
pornography charges.

"That's terrible, that's horrible," Jolie Ramirez said.

Ramirez's son is a kindergartener at the private school. She
said she just met Johnson last week.

"Just interactions that he's had with my son. He was very
involved with the youth at church here. Just last week, he shook
my hand, introduced himself because my son ran up and said he's
an amazing person," Ramirez said. "So to find this out, and I'm
like, 'I shook his hand?' I wish I could go back."

On Wednesday, a search warrant was served at Johnson's home in
Loma Linda after Fontana police received a cyber tip from the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. During the
search warrant, detectives seized multiple electronic devices,
and much of the evidence included images and videos depicted
prepubescent boys as well as evidence relating to the
downloading and distribution of child pornography.

Riverside police detectives also served a search warrant at La
Sierra Academy and discovered additional evidence of child
exploitation.

"Under his own admission, we believe that he did install some
kind of hidden recording device in a bathroom," Riverside police
officer Ryan Railsback said. "We don't know how long that had
been going on, and we don't know how many images and recordings
were made. Our investigators are right now are sifting through
all of that to see if we can identify any of the students who
were caught on the camera."

Johnson was booked at West Valley Detention Center and an
investigation is ongoing.

Distribution of child porn is a felony. But Riverside police say
depending on what is found on the hidden camera, and if Johnson
wasn't sharing the footage with anyone else, he may only be
facing a misdemeanor charge.

One parent said she was frustrated with the possibility of
Johnson only being charged with a misdemeanor.

"I'm gonna put it as nicely as I can, California is a very
interesting place and I don't agree with a lot of things that
are on the books, and maybe this will change," said the woman
who did not want to be on camera.

In a statement to parents, La Sierra Academy said the
administration was "shocked, horrified, and devastated by these
developments."
"We are shocked, horrified, and saddened by what this
investigation has already revealed. My heart is broken. We love
the children and their families that we serve. Their safety and
well-being is our highest priority," school officials wrote in
another statement released Thursday afternoon.

School officials said crisis counselors would be available for
the school community.

https://abc30.com/california-school-counselor-accused-of-placing-
hidden-camera-in-boys-restroom/5991387/
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