A now former Arlington Independent School District employee is charged with possession of child pornography, police say Thursday.
George Spencer "Mack" McKee, 56, of Arlington, had worked at Boles Junior High School as a campus technology manager since May 2014, according to Arlington police.
Investigators said a thumb drive was found at the Arlington ISD Administration Building after a recent meeting, and another district employee, in an effort to locate the owner of the thumb drive, viewed the contents on the device, finding what appeared to be pornographic images of children.
According to the arrest warrant, police said the contents included photos of nude girls approximately 13-15 years old and also stories allegedly written by the suspect that indicated his desire to have sex with an underage girl.
Police determined McKee was the suspected owner of the device, and they executed a search warrant at his home Thursday morning.
McKee was later booked into the Arlington Jail in lieu of a $5,000 bond.
"It's very scary," said Teresa Conn, whose daughter attends Boles. "It makes you want to keep them [her kids] a little bit closer to you."
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The district released a statement saying that McKee has been terminated from his job.
Police said McKee has served in various roles with the Boy Scouts of America, however at this point investigators do not believe any of the images involved children he may have come into contact with through the school district or the Boy Scouts.
Detectives are asking for anyone in the community who believes they know about potential victims or has information that could help the investigation to contact Detective G. Savage with the Child Sexual Predator Task Force at 817-795-9992 Ext. 146.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Arlington ISD said:
"Earlier today, the Arlington ISD was made aware that George McKee was arrested by the Arlington Police Department. He was immediately terminated when his name was provided to the district. McKee was a campus technology manager, not a teacher, at Boles Junior High and had extremely limited contact with students.
"The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. When McKee was hired the Arlington ISD followed all applicable law with regard to a criminal records background check and conducted reference checks. We continue to cooperate fully with the APD."
Within the past month, five people who work at schools in North Texas have faced legal issues connected to inappropriate behavior with children. Three of those employees are from the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District alone.
"We're devastated," said Deanne Hullender, with HEB ISD. "We cannot stand the fact that at some point someone would even think about doing something like that."
Hullender said the district is addressing the problem and working to make changes.
"We are going to put in place some accountability," said Hullender. "I think the teachers can be accountable to each other."