The police said that he was charged with six counts of possession of child pornography.
A former high school teacher downloaded and stored thousands of child porn videos, according to Missouri police.
Scott Ellis has now been charged with six counts of possession of child pornography, authorities said.
The St. Louis County Police Department said investigators received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding Ellis’ Google account.
Investigators then found thousands of child porn videos on Ellis’ cloud-based Google and Mega accounts, according to the probable cause statement. A 36-year-old St. Louis man is believed to have uploaded the video between Oct. 4, 2021, and Oct. 4, 2022, police said.
Some of the video files, which show children as young as infants, included the names of the minor victims, police said.
The former teacher worked at Rogers Middle School from August 2019 to May 2022, according to the Affton School District. He was not employed by the district this school year.
In a statement sent to McClatchy News, a spokesperson said the district became aware of his “potentially inappropriate behavior” earlier this month. District administrators began an investigation and filed a report with the Missouri Division of Children’s Services.
“We are deeply concerned by any report that a former employee may have engaged in inappropriate behavior,” the district said. “Our schools are places where students should always feel safe and we take any allegations of misconduct by staff, both current and former, very seriously. While state and federal privacy laws prohibit the district from sharing protected employee and student information, it is important for our families and community to know that we are committed to the safety and well-being of all Affton students and will remain so in the future. »
Ellis was arrested on Oct. 4 and is being held on $750,000 cash only with no 10% bail.
County officials are cooperating with the investigation.
Afton School District is located approximately 10 miles southwest of downtown St. Louis.