A Cherokee County middle school teacher discussed his students in sexually charged conversations with an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, according to an affidavit obtained by the AJC.
Raymond "Robin" Watts, 55, faces federal charges of possessing and distributing child pornography after sharing more than 1,000 explicit images of underage boys with the undercover agent, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday. Authorities uncovered additional illegal images on the Mill Creek Middle School teacher's personal computer after executing a search warrant of his Kingston home.
Federal agents came across Watts during their investigation of the "Boylover" pedophile community, the affidavit states. A cooperating source told investigators the science instructor had swapped child porn with two longtime members of the online community.
After communicating via e-mail, the undercover agent met with Watts on Jan. 29 at a Cartersville restaurant, according to the affidavit. They then drove to the teacher's residence, where "the conversation centered on kids sports and their interest in children." According to the sworn statement, Watts stated he was predominantly attracted to boys ages 9 to 12
During subsequent telephone conversations Watts talked about working at a Mill Creek boys basketball game, the agent testified.
The two met again Feb. 12 at Watts' home where the suspect transferred 1,027 images to the agent's thumb drive.
The veteran teacher also confessed he once took a thumb drive containing child porn to Mill Creek and "inadvertently left it there," the affidavit states. "Watts stated no one found it but he was worried until he was able to retrieve it," the agent testified.
Cherokee County School spokesman Carrie Budd said the district had not been notified of the arrest and thus had no comment. County policy requires teachers who've been arrested to notify their school's principal within a "short window of time," Budd said. Cherokee schools are not in session this week.
"Although all child pornography cases are tragic because of their victims, this case was even more troubling because the defendant taught in a middle school where he had daily interaction with children," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.
Watts, who made an initial appearance Thursday in federal district court, is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, where bond will be set.
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