Polk County high school teacher charged with possession of child pornography, sheriff says
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LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A high school teacher in Lakeland was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography on Friday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Eddie Chirino, 34, taught English at Tenoroc High School, according to the school’s staff page. He has since been fired by Polk County Public Schools.

Booking photo courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office

Judd said the sheriff’s office received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a Kik account connected to Chirino was being used to download and share child pornography videos.

Detectives visited the home he shared with his mother and, when they found he wasn’t there, spoke to her and learned that Chirino was using her email address on Kik and Instagram. They also found marijuana in his room, and he was arrested on August 6 for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

When Chirino was later interviewed by deputies, he admitted to using his mother’s email address and to viewing child pornography in the past. Police found that he used variations of the name “ChoBro” on several apps, and they began a forensic analysis of his electronics.

Through that analysis, detectives found three videos of child sexual abuse that Chirino shared with other users. Judd said the videos depicted children potentially as young as 6 years old.

Chirino was arrested on Friday, September 26, and booked into the Polk County jail. He was charged with three counts of directing/promoting sexual performance by a child.

Judd said detectives are now working to determine the source of the videos, but said there’s nothing to indicate they were made locally.

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