A California father was arrested Thursday on child pornography charges after his wife allegedly found a hidden camera in their guest bathroom that turned up more than 900 images of child sex abuse, the Redding Police Department announced.
Police arrested Ryan Rovito, 34, of Redding, a city about 160 miles north of Sacramento, on a warrant on Thursday, a little over a week after his wife allegedly found the hidden camera and handed it, and a connected hard drive, over to police. Authorities allegedly discovered the child sex abuse images and multiple videos from the camera after performing a forensic analysis on the devices, according to the Redding Police Department.
“The videos showed children and adults using the bathroom who did not appear to know they were being recorded,” police said.
After Rovito’s wife first discovered the camera March 8, he allegedly “admitted knowledge of the camera but vowed to remove and discard it,” police said.
Rovito’s wife then handed the electronics over to police, “fearing Mr. Rovito had nefariously recorded their young children using the bathroom,” according to the department. After performing the analysis on the items that turned up the hundreds of child sex abuse photos and multiple videos, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Rovito, and took him into custody Thursday during a traffic stop near Buenaventura Boulevard and Placer Street in Redding.
He was booked into the Shasta County Jail on charges related to the possession of child pornography and the surreptitious recording of an identifiable person who was undressed, according to Redding Police.
As of Sunday morning, his name was no longer listed the jail’s online inmate list.
Rovito did not immediately respond to a text to a phone number listed under his name on Sunday. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
Court records show that Rovito’s wife requested, and was granted, a temporary restraining order against him on Friday, the day after he was arrested. The next court date in that case is set for April 7, according to court records, which characterize the case as “domestic violence prevention with minor children.”
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Rovito’s wife could not immediately be reached on Sunday.
The Redding Police Department and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to questions.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com