By Reagan Ebb | Staff Writer
Waco Independent School District elementary school teacher Jeremy Luke Adler was arrested Thursday morning and charged with possession of child pornography.
Adler, 37, teaches fourth grade at Cedar Ridge Elementary School. He began teaching at Cedar Ridge in April 2017.
Adler was taken into police custody while the Texas Attorney General’s Office issued and preformed a search warrant at Adler’s home in Woodway.
This is not Adler’s first offense. Sgt. J.D. Newlin of the Attorney General’s office executed a search warrant earlier this month on Adler’s computers, discovering multiple internet searches for child pornography.
“The affiant knows that these types of searches are indicative of someone attempting to locate child pornography,” Newlin wrote in the search warrant.
Adler caught the attention of law enforcement when a Cybertipline Report from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children alerted them that Adler supposedly uploaded images of naked children on Dec. 9.
According to the search warrant, the photos reportedly depicted a nude young girl around 8 to 10 years old. Waco ISD said in a public statement that they have no reason to believe the incident involved Waco ISD students.
After reviewing the findings of the search warrant, Newlin subpoenaed records that confirmed the images were sent from an IP address located at Adler’s home.
Waco ISD spokesman Kyle DeBeer said officials are “looking into it.” Adler’s faculty information has been removed from Cedar Ridge website. DeBeer said Adler will not be allowed on campus under any circumstances.
“These are deeply disturbing allegations,” DeBeer said. “We are working closely with state law enforcement officials to support their investigation.”
Waco ISD board president Pat Atkins said in a press release that if the charges are true, then they are “disgusting.” Atkins said the school will not tolerate any employee engaging in child pornography.
“I appreciate that the administration moved swiftly to remove Mr. Adler from his teaching position,” Atkins said.
As of Thursday, Waco ISD does not believe charges against Adler involve any students. Waco ISD are working closely with law enforcement in their investigations, and will continue investigating Adler.
