Palm Beach school employee Timothy Scott has been arrested by police for allegedly storing child pornography on his work computer. Scott, 56, is a facilities manager at Renaissance Learning Academy.
He is facing 15 counts of possession of obscene material depicting sexual performance by a child. He was released last Tuesday on $150,000 bond.
Scott is not to go near any schools, including the Renaissance Learning Academy, or anyone under the age of 18. The press did not name an attorney for him.
According to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a tip on July 16 from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about an IP address that had downloaded dozens of child pornography videos. The task force tracked the IP address to a computer in Renaissance Learning Academy, 18370 Limestone Creed Road, in Jupiter.
Deputies executed a search warrant at the school on July 22. They reportedly spoke to Scott and asked him to step out of his office so a digital forensics team could search his desktop computer. Scott was allegedly told not to go near his computer, but he walked back into his office and tried to get to his computer on two separate occasions.
The forensics team found a file-sharing program, 15 videos and at least 10 images of child porn on the computer, the police report said. Some of the files depicted a man having sex with infants, according to the report. The team also found child porn files in the computer’s recycling bin.
Scott reportedly told deputies that his work computer is password protected and he’s the only user. He denied having any knowledge of the child porn files they found.
The Renaissance Learning Academy said Scott is the facilities manager for the Els Center of Excellence, which the academy rents space from. He oversaw the facilities of a campus for two public charter schools, including Renaissance Learning Center.
Marlene Sotelo, the COO for the Els for Autism Foundation, told the press that Scott’s position as facilities manager has been terminated. Sotelo said students and clients are always supervised by staff members and that Scott never had any direct contact with children. She released the following statement to families of the school:
“We want to inform you of a very difficult situation that took place at The Center today. Our Facilities Manager, Mr. Tim Scott, was arrested for possession of inappropriate material. The information we have received thus far is that the activity in question took place over the last 10- 14 days. We are cooperating with the authorities. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.”
Possession of child pornography is a third degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison for each count. In addition to a harsh prison sentence, a conviction also includes hefty fines and mandatory life-time registration in the sex offender registry.
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Source: 7.23.19 School janitor charged with possession of child porn.pdf