LAYTON — The director of a Utah charter school with campuses in Layton and Ogden had “well over 10,000 images of child sex abuse material” in his possession when he was arrested, according to prosecutors.
Now, Jared Dallan Buckley, 40, of West Point, has been charged in federal court.
Buckley, the lead director of the Leadership Learning Academy, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court with possession of child sexual abuse material. Neither Buckley’s picture nor bio appeared on the academy’s website Friday.
In addition to possessing the materials, Buckley told others online that “he could produce and distribute” similar materials for a price, according to the U.S. attorney for Utah.
The FBI began investigating Buckley in October when agents found a person using the name “Emma” on an “application known to be used by people interested in child sexual abuse material,” according to charging documents. Investigators say Emma was distributing a video of child sex abuse material.
“Emma also represented that Emma had original child sex abuse material content that Emma could produce and distribute to others for a price,” the charges allege.
Once investigators said they identified Emma as Buckley, three federal search warrants were served on Tuesday.
“During the execution of the search warrants, law enforcement officers located and seized a cellphone in Buckley’s vehicle,” according to the charges. “During that examination, law enforcement officers located several hundred images of child pornography.”
In a separate court filing Wednesday requesting that Buckley be held in custody pending a trial, prosecutors noted that “law enforcement officers located well over 10,000 images and videos of child sex abuse material — and possible as many as 50,000 images and videos — largely all depicting child pornography.
“The forensic examination of the cellphone also revealed evidence that Buckley has been distributing images of child sex abuse material across multiple online platforms,” the court documents state.
According to his online biography, Buckley has been with the Leadership Learning Academy since 2014. He received a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University as a special education teacher. The Leadership Learning Academy has campuses in Layton and Ogden serving students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Buckley is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court on Friday.
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