LAKE COUNTY, Fla.,None — A school employee who was arrested for child porn is now facing molestation charges after two juvenile victims came forward.
A Treadway Elementary School caregiver in the school's Extended Learning Center program was arrested on Tuesday on charges of possessing child pornography, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Mark Allen Griffin, who also worked as a teacher's assistant in 2010, was arrested at his home in Leesburg, following an investigation in which detectives discovered that child pornography was being downloaded and distributed over the Internet, deputies said. Griffin has worked at Treadway since 1998.
On Saturday, investigators announced that two juvenile victims came forward with accusations that they were touched inappropriately by Griffin. Deputies say the female victims, who were under 12-years-old at the time of the incident, told their parents, who then notified police.
Officials say the molestation allegedly occurred during the summer and November of 2011. Detectives say they met with Griffin in jail, where he admitted to touching the victims in his home.
Detectives said that during the child porn investigation, they learned that the IP address responsible for downloading the child pornography was assigned to 50-year-old Griffin.
Investigators said Griffin confessed to downloading, viewing and possessing child pornography, while using his home computer. They said Griffin identified the computers in his home that had additional images of child pornography.
"He admitted it. He admitted to looking at over 500 files over the last 6 months and downloading all those files," said Lt. John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Armed with a search warrant, detectives said they removed several computers from Griffin's home to be forensically examined.
Officials said Griffin passed at least three background checks over the years, and they're not aware of any complaints about him from parents or colleagues. But now, some are suspicious.
"It just makes me sick to think that he is at our school teaching our children," parent Jill Moore said. "It's all close to home."
Investigators are encouraging parents to speak to their children if they have spent time with Griffin. Deputies want to make sure that there are no additional victims.
Four new charges of lewd and lascivious molestation were filed against Griffin. He is being held in the Lake County Detention Center on a $220,000 bond. A DCF spokesperson said they have a total of three cases involving Griffin, one of which is still being reviewed before charges are filed.
WFTV
