61-year-old Ohio elementary school teacher charged with sending child pornography over messaging app

61-year-old Amit Netanel was arrested in Cincinnati this past week and had allegedly been using the messaging app Kik to send photos of child porn. During the legal proceedings, he will not be allowed to come to Rockwern Academy where he taught the second graders. He was charged with four counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, all felonies in the second degree, according to a statement from the Hamilton Country Sherrif’s office.

Rockwern Academy released a statement on the matter, saying, "We have been in touch with law enforcement authorities and are obviously very concerned about the arrest of our teacher, Amit Netanel. At this time, we do not have additional information regarding the status of any legal proceedings involving this matter. However, we have deemed it appropriate to not permit Mr. Netanel on our campus during the legal proceedings."

"It is important to note that, according to all the information we currently have, this does not involve anyone else associated with Rockwern Academy, including any student, nor is there any information that this involved any activity at our school. As with all prospective employees, Mr. Netanel completed a thorough background check before being hired and every five years thereafter. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our students, staff, and visitors. Given that this is an active criminal investigation, we have no further comment at this time," the statement added.

An investigation into him by the Regional Electronics & Computer Investigations section (RECI) was opened after getting intel about a person trading child pornography online over the Kik messaging app.

Police have asked if anyone has more information that would be related to the case to contact the Regional Electronics & Computer Investigations section at (513)-946-8338.