Crime & Safety
Folly Quarter Teacher Charged with 60 Child Pornography Offenses: Police
The former substitute teacher made child pornography using the images of Folly Quarter Middle School students, police said.
A former substitute teacher at Folly Quarter Middle School was charged Friday with 14 counts of sexual abuse of a minor and 50 counts of production of child pornography, according to a statement from the Howard County Police Department.
Jeremy Sykes, 43, of Hesperus Drive in Columbia, who had been a long-term substitute at Folly Quarter Middle School in Ellicott City since October, was initially charged in January with possession of child pornography based on a tip from federal authorities, the statement said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told police that numerous uploads of child pornography were traced to the same user on two separate computers in Howard County—one in Sykes’ home and the other in the Howard County Public School System. Sykes had been a technology education substitute, Patch previously reported.
After this information came out in January, the school system banned Sykes from its properties, police said.
In addition, officials served a warrant at Sykes' home on Hesperus Drive, where officials took electronic devices that led to the recent charges, according to the statement.
Investigators found 50 digitally altered pornographic images they allege Sykes created using girls' yearbook photos, police said.
Police identified 18 teenage girls in the altered images, 14 of whom were Folly Quarter students and four others Sykes knew outside of school (not as a teacher), the report said.
Detectives contacted all guardians of the involved students and did not find evidence of the students actually being photographed by Sykes, police said. Police added that none of the photos were found to have been distributed anywhere.
Detectives are analyzing additional electronic devices seized from Sykes, and if more information surfaces, parents of those affected will be notified, police said.
Anyone with additional information may contact detectives at 410-313-STOP.
Related: Columbia Substitute Teacher Charged with Child Porn Possession
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