Delaware Private School Administrator Fired Amid Child Porn Accusations

WILMINGTON, DE — An administrator at Tower Hill School in Wilmington was fired and banned from campus following his arrest on child pornography charges, according to multiple reports citing an email from Head of School Elizabeth Speers.

William Ushler, director of upper school admissions, was arrested Tuesday after authorities executed search warrants at his Wilmington home and at Tower Hill School, WDEL reported. Ushler, 53, is charged with five counts of dealing in child pornography.

His arrest came after the Delaware Child Predator Task Force received a cyber tipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on April 14.

According to WDEL, Ushler allegedly sent an email on March 21 showing a nude female about 14 or 15 years of age. Another email, sent on Aug. 10, 2019, showed an inappropriate image of a young teenage girl. Three more images of nude girls were found stored on Ushler’s iPhone, WDEL reported, citing investigators.

A search warrant affidavit indicated the IP addresses used by Ushler to access his email included one registered to Tower Hill, reports said.

In an email to parents, Speers said none of the children in the pictures were Tower Hill students or kids who had contact with Ushler, Delaware Online reported.

School officials also noted that Ushler’s arrest "may have reverberations and echoes" of a similar scandal involving former headmaster Christopher Wheeler, who was convicted in 2015 on 25 counts of dealing in child pornography.