California father arrested, charged with possessing child sex abuse images after wife found hidden camera in bathroom

A California father was arrested last week on child pornography charges after, authorities said, his wife found a hidden camera in their guest bathroom that turned up more than 900 images of child sex abuse, police said.

Police arrested Ryan Rovito, 34, of Redding, about 160 miles north of Sacramento, on a warrant Thursday, a little over a week after his wife was alleged to have found the hidden camera and handed it over to police, along with a connected hard drive. Authorities said they discovered the child sex abuse images and multiple videos from the camera when they performed a forensic analysis on the devices, Redding police said.

"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 discovered the camera March 8, he is alleged to have "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," police said. After they performed the analysis that turned up the hundreds of child sex abuse photos and multiple videos, detectives got an arrest warrant and took Rovito 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, police said.

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 Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether 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 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."

Rovito's wife could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.

Redding police and the Shasta County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to questions.