Former SAUSD cop pleads guilty to possessing child porn, and he lives in Irvine!

(Picture Courtesy of the O.C. Register)

Here I thought that Irvine was such a safe place to live, but a former Santa Ana Unified School District cop named Kendall Scott Poole, who lives there, pleaded guilty this week “to possessing more than 9,000 images of child pornography in his home,” according to the O.C. Register.

Poole was working for the SAUSD when he was arrested, back in March of 2007, according to the L.A. Times.  At the time the SAUSD described Poole as a “school police sergeant” employed by the district for seven years, most recently as a night supervisor at the district office. His arrest, the statement said, was for alleged “misconduct in his personal life.”  Of course the SAUSD never admitted that he was busted for kiddie porn.

The SAUSD in fact assured parents, teachers and staff that Poole’s arrest had “no effect on the safety of students.”  Really?  I wonder if any SAUSD students are amongst those 9,000 pictures?

Why am I not surprised?  Our readers have commented for years that the SAUSD school cops are washouts and rejects.  I am sure some of them are decent officers, but this episode underscores the gravity of the problem.  How do you hire a guy as a school cop when he is a pervy bastard? Maybe these guys should be taking lie detector tests when they get hired?

UPDATE:

I heard from several of my pajaritos today regarding this story.  Apparently the Register blew this story.  Poole not only was employed by the SAUSD when he got busted, he was in fact also not working at night, except when there were board meetings.

In fact, when Poole was first arrested, the Register reported it this way, “Santa Ana school seargeant arrested.”  And now they are referring to him as a “former employee” of the SAUSD.  What’s up with that?

It also turns out that Poole spent many years before he came to the SAUSD as a City of Santa Ana Park Ranger.  No telling how many pictures he took while he was in our parks, but the opportunity was certainly there.

I am also told that Poole did take a battery of psych tests when he was hired by the SAUSD.  He passed them all, proving that their test don’t work.

Shouldn’t the SAUSD at least let parents know what happened, and distribute his picture?  We need to know if he took pictures of any kids registered in the SAUSD.  These kids might need therapy, but aren’t likely to get it if their parents never find out what happened.

Finally, I am told that the departed Miyashiro hired this guy.  That figures.

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