WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — A Westborough Public Schools custodian was arrested for allegedly possessing online child pornography, authorities announced Tuesday afternoon.
Andrew Size, 52, of Westborough, was arrested at his home on Monday following a search warrant and was held on $2500 bail prior to being arraigned at Westborough District Court.
Size was a nighttime custodian at the Fales Elementary School and has been placed on administrative leave, according to Westborough Public Schools Superintendent Amber Bock.
“We are shocked and saddened that a member of our school community is allegedly involved with such an awful and damaging situation,” Bock said in a statement.
Size will not be allowed to return to campus pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Westborough community is in shock to learn an elementary school janitor was arrested on child pornography charges.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear about this,” said Gary Spiro, who lives across the street from Fales Elementary School. “While it doesn’t affect us directly, you know, it’s still shocking to hear because we’re so close in proximity, and are there any children like ours that have been affected?”
Spiro has two children who went through the Westborough public school system, and he’s been talking with other parents who have children who go to Fales Elementary.
“I mean they’re like besides themselves, how could this happen, didn’t anybody know this was going to happen, most of the time this is how it unfolds,” said Spiro.
Westborough Police say they received a CyberTipline report of Size’s alleged online activity. With the help of the Massachusetts State Police Cyber Crime Task Force, officials searched Size’s residence and placed him under arrest.
Superintendent Bock said the Fales School was also searched on Monday and that none of the content being reviewed by law enforcement has any connection to the elementary school or the Westborough Public Schools.
“Both the physical facility as well as the school’s network and computers did not have any inappropriate content connected to this investigation,” Bock said. “I would like to thank our colleagues at the Westborough Police Department as well as the State Police forensic unit and K9-Niko and his handlers from the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) for their assistance and collaboration.”
A letter was sent out to parents and faculty of the Fales School notifying them of the situation.
After Size was arraigned Tuesday, the court ordered him to be on house arrest.
He’s also not allowed to have computer or internet access, and he needs to stay away from all Westborough Public Schools.
“I don’t envision somebody like that coming back into the school system,” said Spiro.
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