A former employee at Sandy Springs’ Woodland Elementary School was sentenced on Dec. 11 for possessing child pornography, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.
Adam Nesbitt, 41, of Rockmart, Ga. has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Nesbitt pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Aug. 9, the release said.
Nesbitt was a paraprofessional at Woodland and worked with special needs children at the elementary school.
“Fulton County Schools has multiple processes in place to ensure the safety of our students and staff,” a spokesperson for FCS said. “Predators like this concern us all and we appreciate the work of the law enforcement and prosecutors to see him come to justice. We have, and will remain vigilant in protecting our students.”
According to the release, officials from Dropbox and Facebook notified the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children in September 2018 when they discovered suspected child pornography stored in Nesbitt’s accounts. NCMEC then notified law enforcement authorities in the state.
Eventually, Homeland Security Investigations and Polk County Police searched Nesbitt’s residence and Dropbox account. They seized approximately 800 images and 600 videos of child pornography on Nesbitt’s accounts, depicting mostly children under 12 years old.
“It is disturbing when we learn that a person entrusted to care for our children engages in this type of disgusting behavior,” Pak said in the release. “Tragically, possession of child pornography continues to victimize and abuse the children in the images every time they are disseminated.”
“It is disheartening to see yet another person in a position of public trust, especially someone who works with special needs children, peddle in child pornography,” Robert Hammer, acting special agent in charge who oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama, said in the release. “We as a society expect more from those who care for our children than this and the law enforcement community is ready to vigorously uphold the law to protect the children of our community.”
Nesbitt was arrested on child pornography charges in December 2018 in Polk County and was immediately fired, according to FCS. The district also said there were no reports of Woodland students being victims.
This story has been updated with a comment from Fulton County Schools.