Arrested child porn suspect worked as high-school guard

Concerns were expressed on Friday by parents after news got out that a 28-year-old man arrested this week for allegedly obtaining child porn material by using a fake social media account was in fact a security guard at a Nicosia high school.

The secondary education parents’ federation said they were greatly concerned by how such a person could be hired to watch over their children.

The man was remanded on Thursday for eight days in connection with investigations for accessing child pornography material and using a fake identity on social media.

He was arrested after a teen reported that the 28-year-old, pretending to be a woman, extorted several photos and videos from him where he is pictured naked. According to the police, the man admitted to the offences but also that he had secured photos and videos from four other minors.

A laptop, two mobile phones and a memory card were seized during a search in his home.

According to media reports, the man used to work as a security guard in a lyceum.

The parents’ federation said in a written statement that they would discuss during a meeting with the education minister possible ways of better screening those working in schools.

They also expressed their concern by how easily children fall in such traps despite the fact that similar incidents are constantly being reported, and the numerous calls by the police and other carriers to be careful online.

“There are children who do not realise the danger,” the announcement said.

They said they would also ask from the minister for reinforcement of programmes providing information on the dangers looming online.

According to the head of the school districts, Dinos Ellinas, school guards have been recently introduced in some schools. He called for a probe into whether the man’s criminal record was checked before he was hired.

Ellinas told Sigma TV on Friday that as per instructions given to schools in 2014, all staff hired must have a clean criminal record and a certificate verifying they were not involved in any sexual harassment-related offences.

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