Tampa teacher jailed after 60 child porn pictures found on PC

TAMPA -- Charles Russell Young was known as a turn-to tech guy at Pierce Middle School, so it was no surprise when he offered to let a school resource officer take Microsoft's new "Vista" operating system for a spin on his personal laptop.

But Deputy Ed Perez says he saw an alarming file name under a "recent files" tab, then made a shocking discovery on the teacher's computer: underage boys engaged in sex acts.

Perez contacted school officials, who conducted an investigation that landed Young, 63, in jail Wednesday after he admitted to downloading and viewing the child pornography.

Hillsborough County schools spokesman Steve Hegarty said Young has been out of the classroom since "late last year" but remains employed by the school system as the investigation continues.

The investigation was launched after the Dec. 12, 2007, incident. Investigators obtained a search warrant, and officials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement inspected the computer.

The images, 60 in all, were determined by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to be part of a series of five separate sets of child pornography found on Young's hard drive.

Young, 8418 of Woodlake Drive, was charged with 60 counts of child pornography possession and booked into the Orient Road Jail. He was released late Wednesday, his 63rd birthday, after posting $50,000 bail.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Booking photo courtesy Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office