WINTER PARK, Fla. — A Winter Park High School band director is out of jail Sunday after his arrest on child porn charges.
Christopher Blackmer, 47, was arrested Friday on charges of sexual performance by a child (possession of child pornography), Winter Park police Lt. John Montgomery said.
Blackmer is now out on bond.
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Police said they started their investigation after receiving a tip.
Someone reported to police Jan. 28 that Blackmer had inappropriate photographs of a teenager, Montgomery said.
Officers said they found several things on his cellphone, including a picture of a former male student.
He'd been working at the school since 2013.
As Blackmer left the Orange County Jail, he didn't say anything about the allegations against him.
Winter Park High School officials released an audio message Friday after the arrest was announced:
"Good afternoon parents, this is your principal, Mr. Arnold, calling to let you know you may see media reports regarding an employee at our school that was arrested. The employee was accused of inappropriate conduct. The employee has not been on our campus. The district is conducting an internal investigation."
According to the arrest report, Winter Park police said the investigation first started when detectives received a tip about inappropriate conversations between the band director and the former student.
A couple of days later, they were able to obtain screenshots of conversations from Instagram, which dated back to 2018.
Police said also discovered found inappropriate pictures with minors and five separate videos “showing two people having sexual contact.” Police said Blackmer was one of them and the other was identified as a former student at Colonial High School.
Investigators said they believe the videos were recorded several years ago and involved a student who was either 16 or 17 at the time.
The school district said Blackmer has been on paid administrative leave since Jan. 31.
I just questioned the Winter Park HS band director accused of having sex with a teenager. @WFTV pic.twitter.com/z1Y89DmhDB
— Samantha Manning (@SamManningNews) April 6, 2019
Arrest #WPPD pic.twitter.com/PuSwOQMvau
— Winter Park Police (@WinterParkPD) April 5, 2019
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