Published January 14, 2015
An elementary school teacher was fired after his arrest for allegedly having child pornography on his home computer.
Richard Smith, 53, who taught fourth and fifth graders at Salem Lutheran School, was arrested Wednesday and jailed in Washington County, Ark.
"He said he has not touched any child from the school in an inappropriate manner," police spokesman Sgt. Shane Pegram said.
Police said they executed a search warrant on Smith's residence, and Smith voluntarily came to the police station for questioning. Police said he confessed to having images of toddlers to preteens engaged in sexual activity. Police said Smith told them he downloaded the images from various Web sites over the past six years.
He was fired from his job Wednesday, the school said in a news release.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding any form of sexual misconduct or abuse. We are not aware of any incident involving our students, and we are cooperating fully with authorities on any investigation," church president Jeff Bladdick said in the release.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/elementary-school-teacher-arrested-for-child-pornography