KENT COUNTY, Mich — A Kent County man, who admitted to working at two area elementary schools as a janitor, is charged with distribution and possession of child pornography.
Bradley Arkesteyn, born in 1995, is accused of trading child pornography images and videos with other users online.
Arkesteyn is an employee of Forest Hills Public Schools, the district shared Thursday afternoon in a letter to parents. The letter said, in part:
"We share your deep concern regarding the news of an individual arrested and placed on administrative leave. The individual identified in the media is an FHPS employee hired in January of 2023. As a cleaner, he worked in multiple buildings.
Upon learning of the arrest from law enforcement, the employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The district has contracted with an external company to do a complete sweep of all the buildings to search for any non-district issued technology devices, and we will continue to work alongside law enforcement officials."
The letter adds that they cannot comment further pending the investigation. Forest Hills Public Schools is also offering additional support for students, which can be pursued by talking to a school counselor, teacher or principal.
The Metropolitan Police Department-Federal Bureau of Investigation (MPD-FBI) Child Exploitation Task Force in Washington D.C. uncovered Arkesteyn's activities after infiltrating a group on the social media platform Kik.
Court documents show that an undercover agent began messaging back and forth with Arkesteyn on Kik after he shared child pornography with the group.
During the course of the conversation with the undercover FBI agent, Arkesteyn allegedly sent a link to nearly 2TB of child pornography.
Less than a week later on March 19, investigators executed a search warrant on Arkesteyn's home.
FBI Special Agents interviewed Arkesteyn, where he allegedly admitted to using Kik and Telegram to receive and send child pornography. He also allegedly admitted to purchasing child pornography from other users on Telegram.
Court documents said that Arkesteyn admitted to viewing child pornography for a decade, beginning when he was as young as 18.
Arkesteyn told investigators in the interview that he works at two different elementary schools as a janitor and has admitted to smelling the shoes of the students.
One of the two schools in which Arkesteyn worked have not been made public, 13 ON YOUR SIDE is actively working to confirm what other school the suspect may have worked at.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan is committed to protecting our most vulnerable citizens from child exploitation. We will continue working with law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable.”
Arkesteyn will be in court for his preliminary hearing on March 25 at 1:30 p.m.
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