Editor’s note: Brandon Leyte pleaded guilty in this case to misdemeanor counts of sexual contact with no consent and child abuse that negligently caused bodily injury, while prosecutors dismissed a felony child pornography charge.
A 19-year-old employee of the Adams County School District 12 was arrested today on a felony child pornography charge, the Thornton Police Department said this afternoon.
On his Facebook page, Brandon Marinus Leyte posted that he “got the job” working with special needs children on March 23.
The investigation that led to Leyte’s arrest began on March 21, when the Denver Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit notified the Thornton Police Department that they suspected Leyte had child pornography on his personal computer.
Thornton police obtained a search warrant for his computer and “discovered it contained digital images and documents of alleged child pornography.”
In a media release, investigators stated they there was “no reason to believe that the child pornography involved any victims at the suspect’s place of employment, nor do they believe any of these images were taken on school property.”
Anyone with more information about the case can call Thornton police at 720-977-5150.
Adams County School District 12 spokeswoman Janelle Asmus told the Associated Press Leyte was a part-time aide in an after-school program. He is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
She says Leyte’s background check before he was hired was clear.
