WHITEHALL, Pa. — A custodian within the Baldwin-Whitehall School District has been arrested on child porn charges.
Michael Siar, 55, is charged with 22 counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of criminal use of communication facility.
Whitehall Police said the investigation began on April 23 when the department learned the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 13 cyber tips.
Investigators with the Whitehall Police Department, with the assistance from the FBI Greater Pittsburgh Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and United States Secret Service, executed a search warrant at Siar’s home in May.
During the search, authorities said they seized several electronic devices that had multiple photos of child sex abuse material, which led to additional search warrants.
Police said thousands of photos and videos of young children engaged in various sexual acts were found on the devices during a four-month forensic examination.
Siar was immediately placed on administrative leave at the Baldwin-Whitehall School District on the day the search warrant was executed.
Police said he did not have access to the district’s school facilities, and do not believe any of the photos or videos found on his devices were connected to his employment at the school.
The Baldwin Whitehall community is in shock after Siar, a well-known custodian at Baldwin High School, was arrested and charged.
“He was one who would accept extra tasks, do different things,” said Dr. Randy Lutz, superintendent of the Baldwin-Whitehall School District. “He was a guy you could really count on. When this news came out back in May to us, it was really disappointing.”
Police reiterated that no students of the district have been identified as victims.
“We have not identified any Baldwin-Whitehall School District students that’s a victim of his activities,” said Chief Jason Gagorik of Whitehall Borough police.
“[We conducted] a very thorough investigation related to his employment at the school, and nothing was found,” said Brett Newbould, an investigator with Whitehall Borough police.
Court documents say Siar admitted to exchanging the material through the social messenger application KiK. Police said he also admitted that he utilizes Instagram and threads to locate internet links containing images of adults and children.
“Even though we have no victims that we’re aware of in Baldwin-Whitehall, don’t be blind and don’t be ignorant of where your children may be on social media, whether it’s Instagram or other places,” Lutz said.
Siar was placed on paid administrative leave until charges were filed. Superintendent Lutz told Channel 11 board members will meet in October to finalize termination.
“I want to assure parents – we are following all kinds of background checks, we’re doing our due diligence to make sure we interview and process people accordingly, but sometimes you simply just never know,” Lutz said.
Siar is out of jail on bond. He’ll appear before a judge next month.
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