Palm Beach Gardens, Florida: A now former second grade teacher at Timber Trace Elementary School has been arrested and charged with 30 counts of possession of 10 or more images of child pornography.
The school issued a statement following the Wednesday arrest saying, "I want to assure all of our families that our school and District take all allegations of misconduct very seriously. Mr. Parker will not be returning to our campus."
54-year-old Edward Jeffrey Parker had been working at the school since 2002 and was, at the time of his arrest, working as a second grade teacher.
According to The Palm Beach Post, Parker made his first appearance in court earlier this morning where Circuit Court Judge Kirk Volker set his bail at $150,000. Should he make bail, he was ordered to have no contact with children and barred from the internet.
He remains in custody in the Palm Beach Main Detention Center at this time.
Citing the arrest warrant viewed by WFLX, Parker is said to have admitted that he "viewed the child pornography, but denied downloading it." He further is alleged to have stated that the images found in his possession were "not real" but were "art."
The arrest warrant goes on to state that Parker is unmarried and has a son with his ex-wife. Additionally, he cares for two adopted sons.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is asking that anyone with additional information contact Detective Malory Wildove at (561) 688-4079.