Wisconsin high school teacher accused of trying to secretly record students on club trip

MADISON, Wis. (WITI) -- A Wisconsin high school teacher was charged Thursday with seven federal counts of attempting to create child pornography by secretly recording minors twice last year.

The charges follow an investigation triggered by the discovery of hidden cameras that were planted in the Minneapolis hotel room of students he was chaperoning on a business club trip.

David Kruchten, a teacher at Madison East High School, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday and arrested at his home in the Madison suburb of Cottage Grove on Thursday morning, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Blader.

Kruchten, 37, was placed on leave in December after the students found the hidden cameras and the investigation was launched.

The indictment charges Kruchten with six counts of attempting to produce child pornography involving six different minors on Oct. 27, 2019, and one count of attempting to produce it with a seventh minor on Jan. 20, 2019, using hidden recording devices that had been moved across state lines.