BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An Indiana man has been accused of masturbating while working at a child care center in Bloomington.

A probable cause affidavit filed on Oct. 4 indicates Joshua Moore worked at Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center for more than a year. He also admitted to police he masturbated at Hopebridge five times while he was employed there.

During their investigation, police ultimately determined Moore worked with non-verbal autistic children at Hopebridge. During an interview with police, which was detailed in the probable cause affidavit, Moore said he would stand in the corner of a room with children present, watch pornography on his phone and rub his genitals.

Police also interviewed multiple people familiar with Moore. Court documents indicate that, during those interviews, Moore’s acquaintances claimed he admitted to placing paper towels in his pants so he could masturbate to the point of climax in situations where it might be considered inappropriate.

The probable cause affidavit reports that Moore believed the children did not see him masturbate at work. Court documents indicate Moore told police he also masturbated in the presence of his coworkers, though he believed they did not see him do so.

Moore reportedly told investigators that he never took his genitals out of his pants in front of the children. The probable cause affidavit states that Moore said he only watched adult pornography and did not view any child pornography when he masturbated.

Court documents reported that one of Moore’s relatives alerted police of his behavior soon after he told them about what he had done. Moore claimed his behavior was the result of a porn addiction. The affidavit for probable cause clarifies that Moore’s addiction was only self-diagnosed when he first told his relative about what he had done at Hopebridge.

According to court documents, Moore told police he was participating in therapy sessions to address his mental health problems — though he never told medical personnel about what he did at Hopebridge because he feared they would be required to turn him into the cops.

Moore’s acquaintances told police he admitted to masturbating in his car and in his backyard while taking his dogs out, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Over the course of their investigation, police determined Moore told one of his friends about his behavior at Hopebridge via the social media app Discord. Court documents report that police obtained a search warrant to examine the Discord messages Moore sent to his friend.

During an interview with investigators, Moore initially claimed he did have a pornography addiction but did not masturbate in front of children at Hopebridge, per the probable cause affidavit. Court documents show that, when police informed Moore of their investigation, he then admitted to masturbating at Hopebridge.

Moore has been preliminarily charged with performing sexual conduct in the presence of a minor, which is a Level 6 Felony. Moore has also received a misdemeanor charge for public indecency.

If convicted, Moore could face 2.5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Moore’s next hearing is set for Oct. 12.