Juan Berrios, 64, a first-grade teacher at Palmetto Elementary School in Florida, has also taught school in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, police said.
A first-grade teacher with a clean record was among nine men arrested in Florida for allegedly possessing child pornography, authorities said.
Juan Berrios, 64, was taken into custody after police found footage depicting children as young as 6-8 months old on the elementary school teacher’s computer in his home at 1118 Chervil Drive in Kissimmee, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said.
Detectives were acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) that Berrios had uploaded child porn of children between 3 and 6 years old when they seized multiple computers from his home.
He was charged with 35 enhanced counts of possession of child pornography, a felony.
Berrios is a first-grade teacher at Palmetto Elementary School in Poinciana. He has also taught in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, police said.
He has been employed by the Polk County School Board since 2007 and had no prior disciplinary action in his personnel file, officials said, noting he was suspended without pay upon his arrest.
Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd will recommend that his employment be terminated at the July 26 meeting of the Polk County School Board.
“We are taking swift action and cooperating fully with law enforcement in their investigation,” Byrd said in a statement obtained by WFTS-TV. “The allegations against this employee are disturbing, and such behavior will not be tolerated. This does not represent Polk County Public Schools, its administrators, staff and dedicated teachers.”
Eight other men were arrested in the month-long sweep that detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Computer Crimes department, along with partners from the Central Florida Internet Crimes against Children task force made in July.
Investigators focused on the promotion, possession and distribution of child pornography during the undercover investigation called “Operation Child Shield 3.”
Investigators say they found 100 files of child porn, including footage of a victim believed to be about 18 months old, on Guillermo “Will” Torres III’s computer at his Lakeland home at 1572 Bowmans Trail.
They were acting on a tip that Torres was downloading and viewing porn depicting children between the ages of 5 and 12, officials said. Torres, who works at Publix in the bakery warehouse, was charged with 100 enhanced counts of child pornography, police said.
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Terry Drawdy, 46, was found to be having sexual conversations through the Facebook messenger app with a 15-year-old Ohio girl, who was sending him nude photos of herself at his request, police said.
Drawdy allegedly said he initiated contact with the girl about two months earlier and that they “talk about sex almost every day,” cops said.
Police identified the victim and notified law enforcement in Ohio of the incident.
He allegedly deleted the photos of the girl after receiving them, but investigators will conduct a forensic analysis on his computer equipment, which was seized from Drawdy’s home at 3625 Kathleen Road Lot 9 in Lakeland. He was charged with one count of possession of child pornography, one count of using a computer to seduce a child and one count of using a two-way communication device to commit a felony.
He was taken to a local hospital upon his arrest after he made medical complaints and was later brought to the jail, police said.
Drawdy was arrested in 2006 for battery domestic violence and aggravated assault with a firearm and again in 2008 for violation of probation, police said.
(From left, top to bottom) Juan Berrios, Siul Pastor, Robert "Gary" Willis, Kevin Nazarro, Thursk Seepersad, Guillermo "Will" Torres III, Angel Rivera-Maldonado, and James Ballone were arrested in Florida for allegedly possessing child pornography. Police did not have a mugshot available of Terry Drawdy. (PCSO)
Siul Pastor, 31, a former PCSO Animal Control Officer, was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography after authorities acting on a tip say they found pornographic footage of children on his computer. Investigators seized his computer equipment from his home in Lake Wales. His exact address is exempt from public record since he is a former employee of law enforcement.
Pastor resigned from the sheriff’s office when he was arrested and would have been terminated had he not stepped down. Additional charges are pending.
Robert “Gary” Willis, a 70-year-old retired electrical engineer, was hit with 36 counts of promotion of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography after he allegedly used a file sharing program to share videos of children between the ages of 7 and 10.
Willis, who is married, had his computer equipment seized from his home at 120 Castellon Court in Davenport, police said.
Kevin Nazzaro, 52, was also allegedly using a file sharing program to share child porn, depicting children between the ages of 8 and 11, from his home computer at 186 Timberpark Drive in Davenport.
Nazzaro, who works as a cook at Big River Grille and Brewing Works at Disney’s Boardwalk, was charged with two counts of promotion of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
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Police arrested Thursk Seepersad, a 27-year-old Navy veteran who served for five years, after they received a tip that he uploaded child porn. They allegedly found three additional files on his computer at 1806 Ruby Street in Lakeland. He was charged with four counts of possession of child pornography.
Angel Rivera-Maldonado, 44, who works in housekeeping at Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge, was charged with 60 enhanced counts of possession of child pornography after police allegedly found 60 files depicting children on his computer at 109 Cherokee Drive in Auburndale.
The youngest victim in the files Rivera-Maldonado allegedly possessed is believed to be about a year old.
Authorities also allegedly found 65 files depicting child pornography on 53-year-old James Ballone’s computer at his Bartow home at 323 Elm Street, cops said. Ballone, who owns a cleaning service, was charged with 65 counts of possession of child pornography.
It was not immediately clear if any of the men had appeared yet in court.
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