Former Mitchell High Teacher Accused Of Videotaping Students

PALM HARBOR, FL — A former high school teacher is facing 10 counts of video voyeurism after being accused of secretly videotaping students during a pool party at his Palm Harbor home.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Thomas John Kovack, 40, of the 1000 block of Palmer Lane, Palm Harbor, was arrested Tuesday following an eight-month investigation by detectives.

On Aug. 22, 2019, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office notified the Pinellas Sheriff's Office that it was investigating Kovack after Pasco County detectives said they discovered videos on a memory card in Kovack's possession.

According to the Pinellas Sheriff's Office, Kovack was a journalism teacher at J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey in 2011 and 2012 and was responsible for The Hoofbeat student newspaper. Detectives said Kovack regularly texted his journalism students while out of school and gained their trust.

In June 2011, he invited several students to his former home at 1732 Rambling Ridge Court in Palm Harbor for a pool party. Before the students arrived, detectives said Kovack set up a motion-activated camera in his bathroom. He then provided the students with alcohol and offered to let them to spend the night.

While no students stayed the night, several were captured on the hidden camera.

On Tuesday, detectives interviewed Kovack, and he admitted to setting up the camera in his bathroom. He told detectives he recorded his students and stored the videos on the SD drive that was later confiscated by Pasco County detectives.

Detectives arrested Kovack and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail