TEMPE — Former Tempe Union High School District surveillance officer Antony Cruz is currently facing voyeurism charges, and Tempe Police recently submitted 100 additional charges. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told ABC15 the additional charges are still being reviewed as of Friday afternoon.
Court documents say Cruz accessed and downloaded footage from cameras that were placed in the dance room. The school district previously told families that the dance room was never an approved changing area for students while the regular locker room was undergoing renovations.
According to the emails released, an assistant principal emailed staff on September 24, 2024, about the cameras being installed in both the east and west dance rooms and that the cameras ran 24/7.
“I know sometimes the girls change in the rooms, but we will need to adjust and use locker rooms or use the dance closets as changing “stalls” if need be,” the email read. The assistant principal continued to say that all PE areas, including wrestling, weight rooms, gyms, have monitoring with cameras as well.
“The good news is injuries, conflicts, and students entering the room unsupervised will be able to be accessed moving forward,” the email read.
The district said the camera in the dance room “was installed in 2024 for campus safety and security purposes related to the room’s exterior access,” and previously told families that there are no cameras in any areas designated as changing rooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms district-wide.
An email from the dance program director on the same day, time-stamped before the assistant principal's email, said she acknowledged the cameras went live, but she was “under the impression that the purpose of the camera(s) was for security, focusing on the two sets of double doors leading out to the parking lot.”
She continued to ask for an explanation of “why they are not focused solely on the outside entrance and exit doors,” as the entire classroom is visible.
“I am concerned with the privacy of our students as the dance room is frequently used as an extended locker-room and students are using that space for custom fittings, changing before and after games and practice,” the email read.
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The dance director then questioned if the cameras can be moved or centered “to address the problem without classroom instruction being filmed every day.”
Then, on July 21, 2026, the dance director sent an email to school administrators again saying that the locker room isn’t finished being renovated, so they would move the dancers to another spot to change.
“I would request the camera is off during the day until we move into the new locker room,” the dance director said.
According to police records, Cruz is accused of viewing the cameras around July 16, 2026, and allegedly downloaded several videos onto the school computer around July 22, 2026.
In another email dated August 28, 2026, about a week after Cruz’s arrest, the dance director sent an email to both school administrators and district officials about the cameras, saying the district “needs to acknowledge its failure to adequately protect students.”
The dance director said the lack of clarity from leadership led people to assume that dance and/or the dance teacher were involved, which they refuted.
“I have always been aware of the cameras, and I specifically raised documented concerns when they were installed because I recognize the potential risk they posed in a room used by students for dance, costume fittings and other after-school activities,” the email read.
The director said she had been attacked on social media and that the situation has “been incredibly difficult.”
Her email continued to say she felt the district focused on placing blame and conducting an internal investigation "rather than acknowledging the larger issue: these security cameras the district installed and monitored should have been focused on the security concern, the doors in question, and not the entire dance classroom.”
The dance program director also questioned why there was never a report that students were changing in the room or any instructions to stop it, as the cameras were potentially monitored for two years.
These emails were released through a public records request, and ABC15 is still waiting for more records to be released. The emails that were released Friday only provided these four emails and did not include any responses that may have occurred, if they did.
The district said the cameras have been covered and that they have launched an internal investigation into whether procedures were followed.
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