A photographer who was contracted by Freedom Elementary School in Buckeye to take pictures was accused of sex crimes against minors. An individual reported the unidentified contractor to the Buckeye Police Department on Sept. 2, the same day the Phoenix-area elementary school held its picture day.
The Buckeye Police Department was contacted directly by the reporting person regarding these allegations, at which point the authorities informed the District.
Liberty Elementary School District Superintendent Lori Shough said that as for the contracted photographer, the District withdrew a planned retake day of school pictures with this person. Shough also said that the District is putting an indefinite hold on any potential photography contracts they have with this company, Fox News reported.
There is no information as to what company the suspect works for, but the school district has distanced itself from him amid the investigation.
Donna Bradley’s granddaughter is a sixth grader at Freedom Elementary School. During school picture day last month, her granddaughter told her that another girl at her campus was reportedly touched inappropriately by a photographer. Bradley said that the girl reached out to her mom right away and was kind of traumatized. The girl’s mother reported the incident to the authorities, Arizona's Family reported.
Meanwhile, Luke Garrison with the Liberty School District explained that the school hired the photographer and was required to take a background screening. He said that the unidentified photographer's record was clean. According to him, the school has a kiosk wherein anyone who steps on the campus has to scan their driver’s license. The process does a quick background check, he added.
It was stated that if there were any red flags, the person would not be allowed on campus, which was not the case with the photographer. Apparently, a student and photographer will never be left alone together. This is because there were three teachers and other photographers inside the area where the picture-taking was being done at that time.
Officers said the accused photographer had not been arrested or charged as of Wednesday. The investigation is still in its early stages and the detectives were conducting interviews. Meanwhile, officers encouraged anyone with information to reach out to the Buckeye Police Department tip line at 623-349-6411, Yahoo! News reported.
