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Complaint Details Child Porn Possession Charges Against Teacher

Scott Aikens

CLYMER — The Clymer teacher charged with possession of child pornography was released on $50,000 cash bail with conditions of home confinement.

At a detention hearing on Tuesday in Buffalo, Scott Aikens was granted bail on conditions. No immediate hearing has been scheduled, however, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has until Dec. 18 to bring an indictment.

Aikens, an agriculture teacher at Clymer Central School, was take into custody Friday after Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant at his Clymer residence. In a criminal complaint detailing the investigation and obtained Wednesday by The Post-Journal, Aikens admitted to viewing and possessing child pornography to federal agents.

Defense Attorney Herbert Greenman of Lipsitz Green Scrime Cambria is representing Aikens, court record said. Calls to Aikens and Greenman for comment were not returned Wednesday.

Aikens’ arrest was the result of an investigation by agents of Homeland Security Investigations. The Buffalo offices of HSI, a subdivision of the U.S. Homeland Security Department, received information that an online user name “EJD” was active on a Thai-based child pornography website on June 25 of this year.

The account “EJD” was registered with the website on Nov. 8, 2017, according to the affidavit provided by Special Agent Nicholas Melchiorre supporting the criminal complaint.

Between Nov. 8, 2017, and Dec. 20, 2017, “EJD” accrued 233 related “credits” through the website and posted 15 comments. The comments ranged from critiques of the website’s performance to specific descriptions of several photographs. Three of the four photographs described in the criminal complaint involved underage Asian boys displaying their genitals.

After tracing the IP address associated with “EJD,” federal agents found the address was registered to Time Warner Cable Internet through a query of the online database of the American Registry for Internet Numbers.

A summons was issued to the cable and internet company in order to obtain related subscriber information.

Homeland Security agents confirmed Aikens’ identity and residency through checks with the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, the United States Postal Inspection Service and an additional summons to Time Warner Cable throughout the month of July.

On July 18, surveillance was conducted at Aikens’ residence by HSI agents. During surveillance, vehicles registered to Aikens were observed in the driveway.

On Sept. 6, HSI applied for a search warrant to authorize agents to search the residence. The search warrant was carried out Friday. Multiple electronic devices, including a laptop and two desktop computers, were obtained as evidence.

During the search warrant’s execution, the criminal complaint cited Aikens as sitting in front of his computer with images of “young prepubescent males with their genitals exposed.”

The complaint also stated that Aikens admitted to viewing child pornography. “Is this about the internet?” Aikens told authorities.

The criminal complaint also indicated that Aikens admitted to HSI agents to viewing child pornography over the last several years and using the website and username. Additionally, the complaint said Aikens admitted to possessing a couple hundred videos of child pornography on the seized laptop and indicated that he had a preference for observing 12- to 14-year-old boys.

On Monday, a forensic analysis found file names consistent with child pornography on Aikens’ hard drive. On Tuesday, agents discovered downloaded child pornography on the Aikens’ laptop saved in a documents folder including a video of prepubescent boys engaging in sexual acts.

The Clymer Central School District placed Aikens on administrative leave after being notified by HSI of his criminal charges.

Aikens graduated from Clymer Central School and began as a teacher in 2005. Prior to teaching, he was a dairy farmer in Clymer and was the adviser of the student organization Future Farmers of America while working at the school.

The criminal charge carries a mandatory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

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