Burke County schools employee fired after being charged with child sex crimes

A Burke County Public Schools custodian was terminated after being charged with soliciting a child by computer and indecent liberties with a child.

Timothy Matthew Shelnut, a second-shift janitor at East Burke Middle School, was fired Tuesday following his arrest.

Burke County deputies say the alleged offense did not happen on school grounds and did not involve a Burke County student.

"We would like to assure parents that the employee’s second-shift schedule would have limited his interaction with students, and we understand that the suspected offense took place on the former employee’s personal time,” Burke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Larry Putnam said.

“Our pre-employment process does include a thorough background check and once employees come to work with us, we take any tips or suspicions of improper conduct very seriously and address them immediately.”

Shelnut had been with the school system since June 2013.

This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Burke County schools employee fired after being charged with child sex crimes."