VERNON, Conn. (WHDH) — A Connecticut teacher is facing criminal charges after investigators found him to be in possession of hundreds of photos depicting child pornography, including up-skirt shots of unsuspecting students that were taken inside the high school where he worked, authorities said.
Christian Stevenson, 52, of Vernon, was arrested Monday on charges including importing child pornography, illegal possession of child pornography, voyeurism, risk of injury to children, and disorderly conduct, according to Vernon Police Department arrest warrant affidavits.
Police launched an investigation into Stevenson over the summer after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip about images of suspected child pornography that were being uploaded through email accounts believed to be associated with Stevenson, the affidavits indicated.
Investigators then seized and reviewed dozens of images, including several nude and partially nude girls who were “clearly prepubescent,” according to the affidavits. The images depicted the girls in suggested poses, while others showed a girl performing an apparent sex act on an adult.
“Nine of the images depicted a nude minor girl that would meet the statutory definition of child pornography in the State of Connecticut,” police wrote in one of the warrants.
Hundreds of photos of students taken inside a classroom, various hallways, and the library at Rockville High School were also found on Stevenson’s phone, according to police. A number of other photographs were said to be taken at school sporting events.
Police noted that school staff were able to identify some of the students in the obscene photographs that were taken from “various angles and distances.”
“None of the students appeared to have any idea they were being photographed,” police stated in the affidavits.
One of the victims, who was 15 years of age, provided a written statement to police that said she was “devastated because she respected Stevenson so much.” Another 17-year-old victim who still owned the shorts she was photographed in told police that she “now felt the need to burn them.”
Stevenson, who was immediately placed on leave, has since resigned and is no longer an employee of Vernon Public Schools, according Superintendent Dr. Joseph Macary.
Stevenson was ordered held on $300,000 bail pending a court appearance.
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