JACKSON TWP., Ohio – Police say more victims have been identified in the case of the local basketball coach accused of spying on boys in the locker room.
Former 9th grade basketball coach, Scott Studer, plead not guilty to charges that he secretly hid cameras in a locker room to take pictures of students as they were showering.
Jackson Township Police Chief Dave Zink tells FOX 8 on Friday that so far their investigation has identified 38 students who were captured in the images on Studer’s computer. The department is in the process of notifying parents.
46-year-old Studer appeared before a magistrate in Massillon Municipal Court on Thursday facing multiple charges of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
Court documents related to the case date back to 2007, but Zink says Studer was arrested on charges that date as far back as 2005.
Zink shared additional details about the investigation on Thursday, telling FOX 8 news that there had been no accusations, complaints or concerns about Studer from anyone in the community before the images were found on his computer. Agents with the U.S. Postal Inspectors office served a search warrant at his address on Wednesday morning.
“There was a forensic expert on site. He did a quick cursory search of Mr. Studer’s hard drive. There were some images that were stored there that were consistent with our school building, so at that point we started our own investigation,” said Zink.
The police chief said his department also had officers at Jackson High School at the time to help the postal inspectors with their unrelated case by securing any equipment in locations where Studer had access.
Zink says after the discovery of the images on the computer at Studer’s residence, the officers conducted a more thorough search at the high school looking for any additional cameras.
“He would take the camera home with him, download the video, save still pictures for his own gratification,” said Zink on Thursday.
The police chief says if there is anything investigators can tell parents to soften the blow, it is that they still believe Studer did not share or disseminate the images electronically or otherwise.
Zink says investigators questioned Studor for about two hours at the Jackson Police Department on Wednesday during which he was very forthcoming about what he had done.
“Without disclosing too much, he shared a great deal of information, said that he preferred boys at that age and that’s as much as I’d like to talk about as far as that relates,” said Zink.
Postal inspectors would not return a phone call on Thursday to answer questions about their unrelated investigation. Zink says the federal investigators are making an image of Studer’s hard drive so local police can look further into what is there.
He did say that there is no evidence or accusations about Studer taking his compulsions to another level. “There’s nothing for us to lead us to believe that there was any sexual misconduct or anything else with students. Again, we have received quite a few calls within the last 24 hours from concerned parents and others that know Mr. Studer and no one shared that with us.”
Studer was ordered held on a $2 million bond.
His attorney, James Haupt, did not want to answer detailed questions at his arraignment. “At this time we are maintaining his innocence in this particular case, “ said Haupt, adding, It’s too early on to say much. These are all allegations at this point.”
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