Chemistry teacher charged with two accounts of voyeurism after filming male roommate in bathroom
Jonathan Downing admitted to the recordings but never meant to film the girlfriend
By Steve Brown
A chemistry teacher has been charged with two accounts of voyeurism after secretly filming his male roommate and his girlfriend in the bathroom.
North Idaho College professor Jonathan Downing, 35 – who identifies as gay – was arrested after being caught videotaping his roommate in the bathroom, according to Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press reported.
The report claims the victim, a 20-year-old former student of Downing, found a pinhole video camera in a wall after becoming suspicious.
On a computer that both men shared, the victim found “secretly recorded videos of him and a female friend”, according to detective Jared Reneau.
After discovering the files, the alleged victim called the police.
Downing admitted to making the recordings but insisted he was only interested in seeing his roommate naked and the girlfriend was recorded “inadvertently”.
Reneau said: “Downing admitted he intentionally placed the camera to covertly record video of the male victim whole the male was in the bathroom.”
The victim – who has known Downing since he was 15 – went on to tell investigators that Downing would often “slap him on the buttock” and tell him “just wait until you are 18”.
As well as teaching chemistry, Downing is also an adviser for North Idaho College’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance – a group promoting a positive environment for LGBT+ community.
The group posted a note to its Facebook page addressing the scandal.