Parents concerned after child porn arrest
Many parents still left with questions after a community forum on the allegations against 19-year old Ryan Spencer. He’s the former after school child care provider accused of making and sharing child pornography.
KION was told just before the meeting that cameras were not allowed inside but the auditorium at Aptos High School was full Thursday night. Most were parents concerned about their children’s safety.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District hosted the meeting inviting the FBI, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and Santa Cruz County Parks and Recreations, Spencer’s former employer.
The school district said they hosted the meeting to get parents as much information as possible but, for some it still wasn’t enough.
“For what we’re dealing with, there’s a lot of questions that were answered, a lot of questions that weren’t answered” said Jaclyn Imani whose child was in the after-school program with Spencer.
“It’s a good effort by the authorities to get us to talk about this” said Jorge Suarez, two of his children go to Mar Vista Elementary school. “I think now that people are ready for more responses to open questions.”
KION caught up with the school district superintendent after the meeting and got her take on parent’s reactions. “I think all the parents wanted more information than really we were probably able to provide them because the investigation is so early on, but I think that they feel solace in knowing that the school district did provide them all the information that they had and we have a dedication to continue to do that” said superintendent Dr. Michelle Rodriguez. “We understand that their child is number one to them, they’re number one to us as well.”
A representative from the FBI says a dedicated phone number (415-553-7400) and email address will be set up for parents to get questions answered and for them to send information to help the FBI determine if their kids were somehow involved.
Another meeting will be held Wednesday for Mar Vista and Valencia elementary school parents to help give them tips when talking with their children.
