Gary Moskowitz
A Crescenta Valley High School ceramics teacher has been arrested for
allegedly using a hidden camera to film and photograph girls in a
school restroom, shocking campus officials who thought the seven-year
veteran was a positive influence on students.
Rogelio Gallardo, 34, was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion
of filming girls after he gave them permission to change into smocks
for ceramics class or go to the bathroom in a faculty restroom
outside his classroom.
Officials believe Gallardo had been using a digital video camera
in the restroom for the past year, and that he was retrieving
individual photos from the digital camera's recordings and putting
them on the Internet.
He has been a teacher at the school since 1997, and is a Glendale
Teachers Assn. representative for the school. Gallardo, whom many
students call "Roger," is married with children and lives in Corona,
officials said. He could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Gallardo was cited and released Thursday. His case will be
presented to prosecutors in Pasadena Superior Court within 60 days,
said Sgt. Dan Scott, who works in the Family Crimes Bureau of the Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Gallardo is on paid administrative leave until further notice,
school district officials said.
A female student allegedly found a video camera hidden in a box in
the restroom Thursday and became suspicious. The girl, whose name was
not released, called her father, and he contacted Co-principal Mike
Livingston. Livingston notified a Glendale Police school resource
officer, but the investigation was handed to the Sheriff's Department
because it covers that area of La Crescenta.
By mid-afternoon Thursday, authorities had taken Gallardo from his
classroom for questioning, and a school counselor took over the
class.
"We estimate that this has been going on for at least a year, so
it could be very big numbers of people photographed," Scott said
Friday. "We are not sure. It happened in a faculty bathroom, and
[students] had to have permission to go in there. He is the one who
gave them permission to use the bathroom."
Gallardo faces several misdemeanor charges, including child
pornography, invasion of privacy with a camera, and annoying or
molesting children, Scott said. The camera and Gallardo's computer
have been taken as evidence. Gallardo admitted loading the photos
onto the Internet, investigators said Friday.
CV High math teacher Patricia Rabe fell silent when she heard of
