A Virginia drama teacher accused of illegally filming his au pair now faces child pornography charges.
Raphael Schklowsky, the theater director at Herndon High School, went to court Wednesday for a hearing on four misdemeanor counts of unlawful filming and wound up being charged with 20 felony counts of possession of child pornography and one felony account of unlawful filming. He was held without bond.
“We have a lot of digital evidence in this case and we’re not done yet,” Fairfax County police Maj. Ed O’Carroll said.
Detectives found more than 3,500 videos including some images showing child pornography, police said.
“This case is heartbreaking,” O’Carroll said. “It was a member of our community that we trusted.”
Police first arrested Schklowsky, 36, in early April. They said he hid cameras in the au pair’s room in the Reston home where he lives with his wife and two children.
The au pair sent police a photo, and they went to the house with a search warrant.
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Detectives said they found one of the recording devices inside an air vent in the au pair’s bedroom. They seized a long list of electronics, including something called a smoke detector camera.
“He was in a position of trust,” O’Carroll said. “He was involved with the youth in our community. Nothing that we’ve seen ties him into his role as a public educator.”
In a letter to parents, Herndon High’s principal wrote, “Today, Fairfax County Police announced additional criminal charges filed against drama teacher, Mr. Schklowsky. The additional charges are unrelated to Herndon High School and, as with the previous charges, do not involve any students or staff from our school.”
Schklowsky has been on leave of absence from Herndon High since his arrest on the illegal filming charges last month.
