LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A teacher from a high school in Lakeland has been taken into custody and charged with possessing child pornography, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Eddie Chirino, 34, who was an English teacher at Tenoroc High School, lost his job following the incident, as confirmed by the Polk County Public Schools.
Judd explained that the sheriff’s office was alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Kik account linked to Chirino being used to download and distribute child pornography videos.
Detectives went to the residence he shared with his mother. In his absence, they spoke with her and discovered Chirino was using her email for Kik and Instagram. Additionally, marijuana was found in his room, leading to his August 6 arrest for marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession.
Upon being interviewed, Chirino confessed to using his mother’s email and having previously accessed child pornography. Investigators discovered he employed aliases similar to “ChoBro” on various apps and initiated a forensic investigation of his devices.
The forensic analysis uncovered three videos of child sexual abuse that Chirino had shared, with Judd indicating that the videos involved children as young as 6 years old.
Chirino was arrested on Friday, September 26, and booked into the Polk County jail. He was charged with three counts of directing/promoting sexual performance by a child.
Judd said detectives are now working to determine the source of the videos, but said there’s nothing to indicate they were made locally.
