Washington teacher arrested for alleged voyeurism in classroom, store

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- An Evergreen High School teacher was arrested Monday on two counts of voyeurism, one in the classroom and one in a store, Vancouver police said.

It was reported last week that the teacher was placed on paid leave by the school district after the allegations surfaced and while police investigated.

KPTV in Portland said Matthew Morasch, 40, was arrested by detectives from the Vancouver Police Department Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit on Monday on two counts of voyeurism.

Police said a school resource officer was notified about a teacher allegedly capturing inappropriate images of a student with his phone.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Morasch's phone. The first count of voyeurism relates to an image from the classroom, police said, while the second count is connected to an unrelated incident at a retail store with a time stamp of April 2015.

Morasch was booked in the Clark County Jail.

One of the female students in the classroom photo told Fox 12 Oregon she believes the teacher was recording video up her dress while they discussed a class assignment.

"I felt disgusted and grossed out," the girl said. "He was leaning awkwardly and sitting weird, and he kept clearing his throat and grunting while he was looking down."

She told KPTV that some of her classmates approached her after class Monday to show her pictures of the teacher apparently holding the phone under the table.

"At the time I didn't really realize what was going on because I wasn't expecting something like this to happen, and then when I found out it all kind of added up what he was doing," the girl said.

The students said they immediately reported the incident to school officials.

Administrators at Evergreen High School sent home a letter with students referring to the allegations as "potentially inappropriate behavior by a teacher in a classroom.

It also says: "Vancouver Police were immediately called to begin an investigation. Evergreen High School is cooperating fully with the investigation and will take any necessary action based on the findings of the investigation.


The mother of the girl in the photo said she pulled her daughter out of the school.

“I think they're taking it a little more seriously but I hope they just don't try to ignore it,” she said. “That's something a pedophile does. It's not normal.”

KPTV reached out to the teacher for comment but did not hear back.