Forest View Elementary Principal Scott Urness sent an email to parents Aug. 21 notifying them that a custodian at the school was under investigation in Anoka County for possession of child pornography.
“At this point, we have no reason to believe that any of our students were involved at all,” Urness wrote.
The custodian, Brian Jeffery Cleveland, 54, was charged Aug. 21 with five counts of possessing child pornography. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The school was notified by the sheriff’s office of the investigation on Aug. 19 (the day Cleveland was arrested), at which point it removed the custodian from the school. Though the custodian is still a district employee, he will not be working on district grounds while the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office investigation is ongoing. The district is also investigating to determine “what wrongdoings, if any, may have occurred,” Urness wrote.
The district did not release the name of the custodian under investigation, but his name is available to the public via the criminal complaint in his case.
According to court records, the sheriff’s office began investigating Cleveland after he was accused in late July of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. In the course of the investigation, deputies executed a search warrant of Cleveland’s home and allegedly found a laptop computer belonging to Forest Lake Area Schools (currently, the sheriff’s office believes the laptop was stolen). Deputies accessed the laptop Aug. 19 and reportedly found “a large amount” of child pornography, including files it appeared Cleveland attempted to delete following his initial contact with law enforcement. The files included graphic content picturing adults engaged in sexual activity with children.
The sheriff’s office also reported that Cleveland has also been charged in connection with the sexual assault, but the Anoka County Attorney’s Office has not yet released the criminal complaint to The Forest Lake Times.