Merced pediatrician arrested for child pornography after hidden camera found in clinic

MERCED, Calif. -- A Merced pediatrician was arrested and accused of planting a hidden video camera in his clinic's restroom. Now he's facing charges for child pornography.

Dr. Carlos Teran Miranda is now out of jail. Investigators arrested him Tuesday morning.

Investigators are currently going over evidence taken from the pediatrician's home. Officials won't say what was found on that hidden camera, but they say it's enough to connect the doctor to the case and arrest him for child pornography.

Merced police arrested Miranda right outside Golden Valley Health Centers.

"We had officers from the detectives division that were staking out his residence as well as his place of work, and they actually spotted him as he was about to enter the clinic where they took him into custody," said Lt. Matt Williams with Merced police.

Investigators said a woman spotted what she thought was an oddly placed flower arrangement on the back of a toilet.

"So once she started looking at it further, she found a very small camera actually hidden inside the flower arrangement," Lt. Williams said.

After snapping a picture of the hidden video camera the woman rushed it over to the administration building, police say. A search warrant was served at Golden Valley and at the doctor's home in Merced.

Neighbors are stunned over Miranda's arrest. They said detectives walked out of the home with several items, including a laptop.

"The process of going through all of this media, it's going to be very tedious and it's going to take a long time," Williams said.

Online records show Miranda went to medical school in Bolivia and recently worked in New York. It appears he moved to Merced in 2013. Golden Valley said that's when he became a pediatrician at the clinic.

According to Golden Valley, after the hidden camera's discovery Friday, they searched restrooms and patient areas across the campus and found no other hidden cameras.

Miranda is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.