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April 13, 2007
Child Porn Hunt Nets Teacher
Topics: NewsEditorial: Again a person of trust involved with children, not only at school but in a scout troop, is arrested and suspected of being involved with child porn. It seems that the passing of laws doesn't reduce the number of people who opt to view and possess child porn. It is as if intelligent people don't read the paper or watch TV or believe that they will not be caught. After all we have seen, priests, ministers, police officers, attorneys and many others continue to be involved with child porn. I can understand getting caught up in the computer world of child pornography as being responsible for this site, I am faced daily with deleting "trackbacks" of porn sites tracking to hook up with the Amanda Brown site. If it is against the law to possess child pornography then go after those that are putting it on line and pass laws that require mandatory jail time for providers of smut. Everyday children are sent to school, attend scouting events and meetings and no one really knows who is interacting with your child. How is this problem going to be resolved?
ST. PETERSBURG - A teacher and Boy Scout leader was arrested Wednesday on child-pornography charges, and the law enforcement agent who identified him didn't even have to get out of his chair to do so.
Charles Taylor, 36, of Largo, was found by a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent who searched the Internet for child pornography images that have been registered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Mike Phillips, special agent supervisor for FDLE.
The agent then can look for online groups sharing those images and identify participants through their Internet service provider, Phillips said. That's usually enough for a search warrant.
When investigators discovered Taylor was an eighth-grade teacher at Tyrone Middle School, they rushed to get a search warrant and swooped on Taylor's Largo condominium Wednesday night, arresting him, Phillips said.
Taylor was charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography. The distribution charge came because the FDLE agent was able to use his computer to download an illegal video from Taylor's computer, an arrest affidavit states.
Taylor was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on $80,000 bail.
"We're going to look through all the pictures and see if there's anything to lead us to believe that he molested any children where he was at school or in the Boy Scouts," Phillips said. "To date none have been identified."
Andrea Zahn, a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County school system, said Taylor would not be paid while he remained in jail. Once he is released, he will be put on administrative leave with pay until further notice, she said.
Taylor started work as a social studies teacher in 1999 and before that worked as a substitute and a teacher's aide, Zahn said. He was involved in a scholar's program for eighth-graders at the school.
With the Boy Scouts of America, Taylor was involved in the Venturing program, designed for coeds 15 to 20 years old, said Bill Davis, the scout executive for the West Central Florida Council, which oversees Pinellas and western Pasco counties. The crew for which Taylor worked as an associate leader was affiliated with a Palm Harbor church.
Davis said Taylor's membership with the Boy Scouts was terminated once he learned of the allegations. "We haven't received any reports of improper behavior," Davis said.
The St. Petersburg Police Department hasn't received any reports of untoward behavior by Taylor at Tyrone Middle, police spokesman Bill Proffitt said.
Taylor said he started with adult pornography and then delved into child pornography, Phillips said.
Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com. Reporter Rod Challenger can be reached at (727) 536-8443 or rchallenger@wfla.com.
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Posted by admin at April 13, 2007 9:27 AM
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