A teacher’s aide at a Florida middle school is accused of possessing child pornography on his electronic devices, authorities said.
Sean Timothy Shafer, 23, of Brandon was arrested Wednesday and charged with 26 counts of in-state transmission of child pornography, 15 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of obscene material, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
Shafer is a teacher’s aide at Mulrennan Middle School in the Tampa suburb of Valrico, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Investigators do not believe that any students at the school are victims, according to the newspaper.
Deputies began their investigation of Shafer in May after they received an online tip that he was in possession of child pornography on his electronic devices, WFLA-TV reported.
“We are both shocked and disgusted by these allegations,” the Hillsborough County School District said in a statement. “Mr. Shafer has been with our district since 2018 and has had no reported incidents involving students. He will not be returning to our district.”
Investigators believe that Shafer obtained the images from the internet, the Times reported.
“The well-being of children should be the top priority for all of our school district employees, so it is especially upsetting that someone who works in the classroom would share obscene images of children online,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Our office will continue working diligently to find and arrest any individual who seeks to take advantage of minors or aides in their victimization.”
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