Teacher At Australian Jewish Schools Arrested On Child Porn Charges

Bialik College in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Image by Wikimedia

By JTA May 5, 2017

SYDNEY (JTA) — Police arrested a teacher at a Melbourne Jewish day school after his previous employer, also a Jewish day school, allegedly uncovered child pornography and surreptitiously taken photos on a computer he used.

“Detectives have charged a man following an investigation into child pornography and upskirting incidents at an Eastern suburbs school,” a police spokesperson told JTA on Thursday, saying that the alleged incidents took place between 2014 and 2017. “Upskirting” describes photos taken of the crotch area with the subject’s knowledge or consent.

“The 52-year-old man has been charged with make/produce child porn and possess child pornography,” the spokesperson said. The suspect, who is presently employed by Mount Scopus Memorial College and who worked at Bialik College, was not named.

Bialik College said in a statement that it uncovered the evidence as a result of its “proactive child protection policy and procedures in place that includes robust screening, induction and monitoring processes.”

“Recently, an audit of defunct computer equipment resulted in the discovery of this material,” the statement said. “Immediately, the school notified Victoria Police, the Victorian Institute of Teaching and the teacher’s current employer.”

Rabbi James Kennard, the principal at Mount Scopus Memorial College, told JTA that there were no allegations that the suspect had been in direct contact with children, which Bialik College also said.

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