BRENTWOOD (BCN) — A groundskeeper at Brentwood Union School District is not being allowed on school campuses after being arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, district officials said.
The employee, identified as Martin Rodriguez, was charged on Monday with a misdemeanor for allegedly possessing child pornography, according to the district.
Antioch police detectives informed the school district on Sept. 1 that Rodriguez had been arrested. He was placed on paid administrative leave and has not been allowed on school grounds since, according to the district.
Following confirmation of the charges filed against him, the district moved to change his status from paid administrative leave to unpaid leave, pending resolution of the charges.
Like the district’s roughly 1,000 other employees, Rodriguez had gone through a background check before he was hired as a groundskeeper, according to the school district.
He apparently didn’t have much contact with students or work with them directly in his role.
“The landscaping duties of a groundsperson do not typically involve unsupervised contact with students,” district superintendent Dana Eaton said in a statement.
The district will be cooperating with prosecutors and police in an ongoing investigation in this case.
“The investigation has not indicated that any Brentwood Union School District students were involved in the materials he possessed or that (he) had any inappropriate contact with our students,” Eaton added.