An elementary school teacher in Los Gatos was arrested after reports of inappropriate behavior on the web-conferencing app Zoom led investigators to track down a trove of alarming videos at his home, and eventually unearthed an allegation of years-old abuse.

The case began in mid-May, when the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint from a 13-year-old boy who claimed that the director of the Los Gatos Youth Theater had made him uncomfortable during a one-on-one call, said Sgt. Michael Low.

The director, identified as 50-year-old Joseph Houg of San Jose, allegedly kept asking the boy to see his abdomen muscles until the boy complied, Low said. Another 13-year-old boy reported a similar incident in which Houg asked to see his underwear during a Zoom call.

Detectives learned that Houg is a longtime teacher at Blossom Hill Elementary School in Los Gatos and launched an investigation. During the course of that, a third person came forward — and said that Houg had touched his stomach and genitals inappropriately during gym class in 2008, when the victim was in 5th grade.

Through a search warrant, detectives uncovered several electronic storage devices in Houg’s home with a “plethora” of concerning content, Low said, including videos of young boys changing their clothes and both videos and images of children in their underwear.

Houg was arrested Thursday out of his San Jose residence and booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and multiple charges of annoying or molesting a minor. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon on $100,000 bail, according to jail records.

Officials at Blossom Hill Elementary School could not immediately be reached for comment.

Anyone with more information may contact the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office at 408-808-4500 or anonymously at 408-808-4431.