Warden councilman facing voyeurism charges

WARDEN — A former Warden substitute teacher and Warden city council member allegedly admitted to secretly video recording students during a substitute teaching assignment in Warden in October.

Grant County prosecutors charged Michael Leavitt, 53, of Warden, in Grant County Superior Court with two counts of first-degree voyeurism. He is currently being held in the Grant County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

The Warden Police Department was made aware of Leavitt in October 2017 after a young girl and her mother reported the defendant held a cellphone under the girl’s dress at school, according to court documents. The girl claimed Leavitt was kneeling down next to her and she looked down after she felt something warm touch her legs. She allegedly saw Leavitt holding his cellphone, after which she says he apologized and removed the phone.

Leavitt was brought in for questioning a few days later and said there was things on his phone that were “sensitive” to him. He later informed police he needed a lawyer. Leavitt’s phone was transferred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s office in Spokane where an examination of the device was conducted.

The examination was completed near the end of October and the WPD began reviewing the 6,775 images and 235 videos on Leavitt’s iPhone. Court documents detail several videos on the device that appear to have been taken secretly of several younger females. One of the videos was reportedly taken during the Warden Community Days celebration in September 2017 and shows several younger females being secretly recorded at Volunteer Park.

Information was also gathered that shows Leavitt deleted specific portions of his browsing history, including evidence of several visits to a website that allows users to upload pictures and post comments on other people’s albums. Leavitt allegedly deleted previous searches for child pornography as well. The WPD discovered that on the day he was interviewed by police Leavitt made an internet search in which he asked “is a search warrant required to look at a phone.”

The WPD obtained a search warrant for Leavitt’s iCloud account and in January the data from the account was obtained. The WPD discovered Leavitt had deleted several videos of the recording he made of the original victim. The videos were consistent with the account given by the victim and a male voice can reportedly be heard in the videos responding to questions that were addressed to “Mr. Leavitt."

In addition, another video was found that was taken in the same Warden classroom and reportedly shows “three prepubescent females” bending over “the teacher’s table.” Leavitt was taken into custody on March 29 by the WPD, FBI agents and Grant County Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team members. Leavitt allegedly admitted to filming the girls in the classroom and said he masturbated to the images he took.