Aptos babysitter pleads guilty to child pornography charges

UPDATE: 10/11/2018 1:39 p.m. An Aptos babysitter pleaded guilty to several child pornography charges.

21-year-old Ryan Michael Spencer admitted to taking pornographic photos of more than a dozen kids whom he came in contact with while working as a babysitter and camp counselor in the Santa Cruz area.

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office said one photo showed Spencer molesting a child he was babysitting.

District officials confirm Spencer worked at an after-school program at Mar Vista Elementary School in Aptos.

Based on work history KION found on Spencer’s LinkedIn page, he had a job at a Watsonville children’s center and did volunteer work at Santa Cruz County’s Outdoor Science School.

“Spencer admitted that, beginning no later than March 2015 and continuing until his arrest in April 2017, he conspired with his co-defendant, Tiburon-area babysitter Bryan Petersen, to trade the child pornography he produced for other images of child pornography that Petersen took of children in Petersen’s care,” said the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

The two men shared child pornography using Kik Messenger. In the spring of 2016, Spencer filled a hard drive with more than 30,000 images and videos of child pornography and gave it to Peterson.

Spencer and Peterson were indicted by a federal Grand Jury on May 11, 2017.

Spencer has been in custody since his arrest in April 2017. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February, 20, 2019. The maximum statutory penalty is 30 years for each count of production of child pornography and 20 years for the other child pornography counts, a fine up to $250,000, plus restitution to the victims.

Peterson, 27, pleaded guilty in 2017 and is awaiting sentencing.

PREVIOUS STORY: 5/9/2017 6:10 p.m.

An Aptos teenager, accused of making and sharing child pornography, faced a federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday for a detention hearing. A judge ordered Ryan Michael Spencer, 19, to remain in federal custody until his trial.

He faces one count of possession of child pornography. In a criminal complaint, authorities reported the Cabrillo College student would take pornographic pictures and videos of children he babysat, then gathered and shared the images with a 24 year old man in Tiburon, who was also charged with possessing child pornography.

While the criminal complaint stated Spencer made most of his income babysitting, he had access to children in the form of other jobs. District officials confirm he worked at an after-school program at Mar Vista Elementary School in Aptos.

Based on work history KION found on the 19-year old’s LinkedIn page, he had a job at a Watsonville children’s center and did volunteer work at Santa Cruz County’s Outdoor Science School.

Hailey Sargent’s six year old daughter went to the after-school program where Spencer worked. She called the news “gut-wrenching.”

“She spent time with this guy and has hugged him every time he saw her,” Sargent said. “We’ve met him at Safeway and talked, and it was just really hard to comprehend that she spent hours with this guy and we don’t know what he’s done with them.”

On Monday, school district leaders told KION they didn’t have reason to believe any children in the program were involved. But the investigation is far from over.

While the FBI is tasked with investigating the trafficking and production of child pornography, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said it would be responsible for investigating any allegations of child molestation or any other forms of child victimization.

In the meantime, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District is putting a recently-created crisis intervention plan in place.

“We have both a district group of social-emotional counselors that are there supporting students, teachers and parents,” said Superintendent Dr. Michelle Rodriguez. “We also have additional support from PVPSA in the form of licensed therapists, and then we have the county there as well.”

The district, FBI and Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office is holding a community meeting on Thursday, 7 p.m. at Aptos High School. They hope to address parents’ questions and concerns.

ORIGINAL POST:

A recent Aptos High School graduate and current Cabrillo College student, accused of gathering and sharing child porn, will be detained until his case is heard in court.

That information was released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Tuesday, after a detention hearing for Ryan Michael Spencer, 19, at the Northern California U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The attorney’s office said its up to the U.S. Marshals Service to decide where he will be held and when the trial will start.

The allegations come as he worked for a county-operated after-school program at Mar Vista Elementary School in Aptos.

Spencer is accused of taking pornographic pictures and videos of children he babysat and school officials believe students were not victimized.

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the Santa Cruz County Parks Department both issued statements about Spencer’s arrest.

Statement from PVUSD:

May 8, 2017

Dear Mar Vista & Valencia Parents and Community:

On Friday, May 5, 2017, in the late afternoon, we received a call from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the arrest of a local man who had contact with local families and children. This individual was also employed at the After School Childhood Enrichment (ACE) Program at Mar Vista Elementary School managed by the County of Santa Cruz. He was also a Cabrillo Early Education student who through the Cabrillo program (Ed180 class), observed teachers in action at Valencia Elementary. Immediately, we began communication with the County and corresponding departments to ensure that we had as much information as possible.

At this point, we have no reason to believe that any of the allegations against him involve any of the children enrolled in the program or that were in care of district employees. The male employee was an extra help Parks and Recreation Cultural Worker assisting lead instructors since November 2014. It is the practice and policy of the ACE program that no employee is alone with any student at any time. Additionally, through the Cabrillo program, college students must be with a supervising teacher at all times and at no point is allowed to be alone with elementary students. No county facility or district school has been searched and no other county employees have been interviewed as part of the investigation. The individual was arrested and has been terminated. He will be arraigned in Federal Court on Tuesday.

We take this situation very seriously and will continue to work closely with both the FBI and local agencies as the investigation continues. We will provide all the information we receive to the parents and the community as more becomes available. To address any additional questions, we will be holding a community forum with County Office of Education, Santa Cruz County Parks Department and the District on Thursday, May 11th at 7:00pm at Aptos High School Performing Arts Center. If you have any questions, please contact me at 831-786-2135.

Sincerely,

Michelle Rodriguez, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Santa Cruz County Park Department Director Jeff Gaffney confirmed Spencer was fired from his position last Friday and issued this statement:

“We recently became aware of allegations involving a former extra-help worker in our ACE program, and we share the concerns of every parent about the nature of these allegations. At this time, we have no reason to believe these allegations involve any of the children under the care of the ACE program. Investigators have not visited County facilities nor interviewed current County employees, and it is our policy that no County worker is alone with any child at any time. The worker is no longer employed by the County. We care deeply about the safety of our children, and while the information we have is limited, we encourage parents who have concerns to reach out to us.”

A community discussion with district leaders, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and an FBI representative is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Aptos High School on Thursday.

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have more on this story at 6 p.m.