05:35 PM CST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

Associated Press

WACO, Texas -- Bruceville-Eddy’s school superintendent was arrested for allegedly placing a hidden video camera resembling an air freshener dispenser in a women’s bathroom at the school administration office.

KHOU

Danny Edward Doyen

Danny Edward Doyen, 46, told investigators that he bought the camera with a school district credit card and placed it in a restroom to obtain nude photos of female employees, according to the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office.

Doyen has been superintendent in Bruceville-Eddy, a town of about 1,500 residents about 20 miles south of Waco, since 2002. He was booked Wednesday into the McLennan County Jail on a charge of improper photography or visual recording, punishable by up to two years in a state jail.

The school board had an emergency meeting Wednesday night and placed Doyen on administrative leave. School officials searched all campus bathrooms and found no recording devices, so they believe the camera in the administrative building was an isolated incident.

“The board deeply regrets this occurrence and wants to assure the community that all steps will be taken to assure the safety and well being of all students, employees and visitors,” the Bruceville-Eddy school board said in a news release Thursday.

According to records, a school business office clerk alerted investigators this week after finding a school credit card statement for a $299 purchase with no vendor name, then discovering it was from a surveillance company. Two days later, Doyen submitted an invoice for the purchase, which included a description of the camera and a Web site address, according to records.

The clerk learned about the item online, then remembered that Doyen two weeks earlier had mentioned the need for air fresheners in the men’s restroom and office hallway, according to an affidavit.

The clerk and other women employees then found the fake air freshener on a shelf about 3 feet away from the toilet, according to court records.

Investigators reported finding the hidden camera on a shelf in Doyen’s school district office after obtaining search warrants for his office and home. Officers also reported seizing computer equipment and related materials from Doyen’s school office, computer equipment from his daughter’s bedroom and 11 weapons from Doyen’s bedroom.