A teacher at Fort Zumwalt West Middle School in St. Charles County, Missouri, has been charged with Internet pornography crimes. The charges come after a police cyber crimes unit investigated the teacher, 38, according to officials. He was charged with possession of child pornography in Lincoln County, Missouri
The police alleged that they found child pornography on the teacher’s computer at his home in Winfield, Missouri. The district superintendent said that no students in the teacher’s school district have been connected to the material allegedly found on his computer. If the teacher is convicted of possession of child pornography, he faces up to seven years in prison, according to court records.
The teacher has been placed on administrative leave by the Fort Zumwalt School District. According to the superintendent, this means that the teacher was barred from all campuses of the school district. The teacher had been teaching seventh-grade math. The judge assigned to the case, who approved the teacher’s request to have the court appoint an attorney for him, said that the teacher had lost his job and had no source of income.
The teacher was arrested in another state, hundreds of miles from St. Louis, Missouri, after he had climbed a cellular tower and threatened to jump off. Crisis negotiators coaxed him down from the tower after several hours; he was promptly committed to a mental facility. The teacher later waived extradition back to Missouri.
It was not clear why police suspected the teacher of sex offenses. He apparently enjoyed a good reputation at the school, according to school officials, and had taught there for several years.
Source: Ottumwa Courier, “Teacher waives extradition in porn case,” Rusty Ebert, June 9, 2012
