FBI files child porn charge against recent Aptos HS grad

UPDATED 5/8/2017 10:00 p.m.: A 19 year-old Aptos High School graduate is now in federal custody, accused of gathering and sharing child porn.

The allegations come as he worked for an after-school program at an Aptos elementary school.

According to the FBI, the suspect was arrested more than a week ago.

Ryan Michael Spencer is accused of taking pornographic pictures and videos of children he babysat.

The county says he was fired from the after-school program, but we found out, that position wasn’t the only one where he was working with children.

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.

Heather Molloy, the school’s director, confirmed Spencer did work there and issued this statement:

“He was a cabin leader several times over the years. We’re making sure the FBI has that information which they subpoenaed.”

According to the FBI report, Spencer was also going to Cabrillo College to become a teacher and observed classrooms in the district as part of his program.

Though Spencer was not an actual Pajaro Valley Unified School District employee, Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez says he was screened before working with students.

“Both in April of 2016 and in January of this school year he was fingerprinted twice so he actually went through the whole Live Scan fingerprinting system that goes through the FBI and all the different agencies and at this point he has a clean record and because of that he hasn’t come up” Rodriguez said.

Though the school district says they have no reason to believe the allegations against Spencer have anything to do with the students in the after-school program, one parent of a Mar Vista Elementary School student says she’s still unsettled.

“He was always on campus so I don’t know what contact she’s had with him directly if any” said Christine, a parent. “I’m obviously hoping none.”

Superintendent Rodriguez says on top of the school district’s own investigation, they are working with the FBI to get more answers.

“We spoke to them again this morning demanding more information” Rodriguez said. “All the information they can give us.”

Rodriguez says this is an example of why screenings are so important.

“We actually get a little bit of negative press because we fingerprint every single person, even if you go on a field trip” Rodriguez says. “This kind of highlights the reasons why we do it, because we’re trying to be as thorough as possible.”

Rodriguez says the district is continuing to reach out to parents through a community forum at Aptos High School on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The district is meeting with the FBI again on Wednesday.

PREVIOUS STORY: A 2016 Aptos High School graduate and Santa Cruz County Park Department employee is accused of gathering and distributing child pornography, according documents filed by the FBI last month.

In those court documents, a witness stated Ryan Michael Spencer, 19, lives in Aptos and was sharing pornographic pictures of children he babysat using a free app called Kik Messenger. The FBI also stated Spencer had an external hard drive with 10,000 to 100,000 images and videos of child pornography.

The court document states the FBI went to Spencer’s home on April 27th and interviewed him, where he stated he was “studying at a community college to become an elementary school teacher….and was currently working for the county at an elementary school organizing recreational activities.”

Spencer’s Facebook page and Linkedin profile, he states he’s worked for the Santa Cruz County Parks Department since November 2014. His profiles also state he lives in Aptos and is attending Cabrillo College.

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.”

On Monday, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District issued a statement saying a county employee, who works with the After School Childhood Enrichment Program at Mar Vista Elementary, was arrested and immediately terminated after the district was informed of the charge by the FBI on May 5.

KION is digging into this story, for more information on who was arrested and why. A copy of the letter to parents is listed below:

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