Teacher held on voyeurism charges

A Cedar City middle school teacher has been arrested on charges of voyeurism.

The case unfolded when police officers responded to a Cedar City neighborhood last week, where someone reported a suspicious man. Police approached the man and, after talking with him, arrested him.

"When we arrested him he did have a video camera on him," Cedar City Police Sgt. Jerry Womack said Wednesday.

Officers reviewing the videotape said they found numerous images of people who had been filmed without their knowledge.

"He was videotaping through openings in the windows, through the blinds and curtains," Womack said.

Police said there were men and women on the tape but refused to say if children had also been videotaped or if the images were sexual in nature.

Matthew Scott Adams, 30, was charged with nine counts of misdemeanor voyeurism and booked into the Iron County Jail, where he is being held on $7,500 bail. During a court appearance Tuesday in Cedar City's 5th District Court, Adams was appointed a public defense attorney, and a plea hearing was scheduled for Jan. 20.

Police said they have tried to notify the people in the videotapes and had no reason to believe any images had been posted on the Internet.

The Iron County School District said Wednesday that Adams worked at Cedar Middle School, teaching seventh- and eighth-graders in the career and technical education program.

"We've taken appropriate action," said district Superintendent James Johnson. "He is no longer employed there."

Johnson said that while the incident took place outside the school realm, the district is still looking into the matter.

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Contributing: Amy K. Stewart

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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