School resource officer arrested on child porn charges, NC sheriff says
A former North Carolina school resource officer was arrested on charges involving child sexual abuse material on Wednesday, Rowan County sheriff’s officials said.
Austin Tyler Moore, 35, of the town of Cleveland, worked at North Rowan Elementary School for the Spencer Police Department. He was removed from his assignment the day sheriff’s detectives began investigating him, officials said.
That was Oct. 29, when the sheriff’s office received a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Moore had child sexual abuse material, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
Moore was arrested and charged with four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators executed a search warrant on Moore’s assigned school office, his home and his electronic devices and accounts, according to the sheriff’s office.
“No evidence was found to suggest that any student at North Rowan Elementary School or any other Rowan-Salisbury school was victimized,” according to the sheriff’s statement.
Moore was jailed on a $100,000 bond.
After an internal investigation, Moore was fired as a Spencer officer on Nov. 12, according to a statement from the town.
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“Our public integrity and trust are at the forefront of our ability to serve, and we have no tolerance for the type of conduct that is being alleged,” town and police officials said in the joint statement.
Cpl. Andrew Niblock, who worked several years as the resource officer at North Rowan High School, has replaced Moore at North Rowan Elementary, officials said.