An Ohio elementary school teacher has been arrested on child pornography charges, authorities said.
Amit Netanel, a second-grade teacher at Rockwern Academy near Cincinnati, was taken into custody on Thursday, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office announced.
The 61-year-old was brought in on four counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor after detectives received information about someone trading child sex abuse material on the Kik messenger app, police said.
“As a result of that investigation, a search warrant was served at the Netanel residence, resulting in his arrest,” the sheriff’s office explained.
Rockwern Academy released a statement obtained by WLWT, saying Netanel will not be permitted on campus during the legal proceedings.
We have been in touch with law enforcement authorities and are obviously very concerned about the arrest of our teacher, Amit Netanel. At this time, we do not have additional information regarding the status of any legal proceedings involving this matter. However, we have deemed it appropriate to not permit Mr. Netanel on our campus during the legal proceedings. It is important to note that, according to all the information we currently have, this does not involve anyone else associated with Rockwern Academy, including any student, nor is there any information that this involved any activity at our school. As with all prospective employees, Mr. Netanel completed a thorough background check before being hired and every five years thereafter. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our students, staff, and visitors. Given that this is an active criminal investigation, we have no further comment at this time.
Anyone with more information regarding the case has been encouraged to contact local authorities, as the investigation is still ongoing.
