A man previously employed as a teacher’s assistant at a school in Little Rock pleaded guilty to three counts of child porn production on Tuesday, a news release from the Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Augustus “Gus” Shenker, 22, of Little Rock was charged with a criminal complaint in May 2021 and indicted in June 2021, the release said.
Shenker was employed at Miss Selma’s School, the release said, which serves young students from 18 months old to fifth grade.
He was charged after the FBI received a tip that Shenker’s dropbox, attached to a username with his name, possessed seven videos containing child pornography, authorities said.
A search warrant was obtained for Shenker’s residence and FBI agents confronted him at work and seized his iPhone, the release said.
“Shenker was interviewed and admitted he used to have a problem with child pornography several years ago but no longer viewed child pornography. He also confirmed the email address and Dropbox account from the cyber tip belonged to him,” the release said.
Agents said they found six videos created in March 2021 of Shenker touching the genitals and buttocks of a preschooler in a classroom inside Miss Selma’s School, according to the release. His iPhone contained a secret folder of 19 more videos taken in the same classroom he worked in, some of which show his face, authorities said.
Agents also said they found more than one thousand images of child sexual abuse on his phone and other devices.
Shenker was first charged on May 18, 2021, after the FBI received the cyber tip, the release said.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury, and charged with 22 counts of production of child porn as well as one count of possession of child pornography, authorities said.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to three of those 22 counts before United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, the release said.
Shenker will be sentenced by Rudofsky at a later date.
The release said the FBI Little Rock Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is investigating, and Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant is prosecuting this case.