A Florida high school employee is facing multiple charges after authorities reportedly discovered hundreds of images and videos depicting child sex abuse and sexual acts with animals after searching the suspect's home and digital accounts.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested Tyree McKinley Fields, 25, at his residence on Sunday, it announced earlier this week. Fields, who worked as a campus safety monitor at Spoto High School, was transported to Falkenburg Road Jail, and the investigation into the suspect is ongoing.
Fields faces numerous felony charges, according to the sheriff's office, including: "Possession of Child Pornography (10 or More Images) (x100), Film, Distribute, Or Possess Image or Video of Sexual Activity with an Animal (x100), In State Transmission of Child Pornography (x2), Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device (x3), Obstruction of Service or Execution of a Search Warrant, Resist without Violence."
"There are few crimes more horrifying than those that exploit the innocent," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement on Monday.
"This individual's actions are beyond comprehension — the abuse of children and animals is pure evil," Chronister continued. "Thanks to the dedication of our detectives, this man is behind bars. We will never tolerate those who target the most vulnerable, and we will continue to pursue them relentlessly."
Detectives opened an investigation into the high school employee after receiving a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August. The cyber tip traced child sexual abuse videos uploaded online to an account that was eventually linked to Fields, according to the sheriff's office.
After obtaining search warrants for the campus safety monitor's home and digital accounts, investigators reportedly uncovered hundreds of files that depicted sexual abuse of infants and children, as well as videos featuring sexual acts with animals.
At the time of the crimes, Fields was employed by Spoto High School, according to the sheriff's office. Hillsborough County Public Schools did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.
Officials with Hillsborough County Public Schools informed WTSP-TV that Fields passed all required screenings and background checks before he was hired as a campus safety monitor. Officials also confirmed that Fields resigned from his position at Spoto High School.
"We are deeply troubled by this arrest and want to reassure our families that the safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority," Hillsborough County Public Schools officials told WTSP-TV.
Fields is not the only school employee in Florida arrested in recent years for charges related to pornography.
Steven Houser, 67, was arrested last year for allegedly taking yearbook photos and using artificial intelligence to create erotic materials and sexually explicit content featuring children. Houser, who worked as a third-grade science teacher at Beacon Christian Academy in New Port Richey, was charged with multiple counts of felony possession of child pornography.
As the Pasco County Sheriff's Office reported at the time, deputies opened an investigation after receiving an unspecified tip about Houser. The science teacher allegedly possessed two photos and three videos of child pornography, and he also had child erotic material generated using an AI computer program.
In a separate case from February 2024, a teacher at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic School in Louisville, Kentucky, was accused of using Photoshop to transpose yearbook pictures onto naked pictures of children and distribute them to other people.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky announced in early February that the teacher, 39-year-old Jordan Fautz, faced charges of distributing child pornography and distributing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse.
