Pasco Assistant Principal Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

LAND O' LAKES, FL - A Pasco County assistant principal is facing federal child pornography charges after being arrested Tuesday afternoon at his home following a Homeland Security investigation, according to multiple sources.

Kyle Ritsema, 35, the assistant principal at Cypress Creek Middle School in Wesley Chapel, has been placed on paid administrative leave, but the charges do not involve his duties as a school official, according to the district. He is being held without bond at the Hillsborough County Jail.

He was arrested by U.S. marshals and charged with possessing, distributing and creating child pornography.

Ritsema appeared in U.S. District Court in Tampa Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 14. According to the sworn affidavit from federal investigators, Ritsema is accused of texting nude images of a teen boy to another person from his home computer in Land O' Lakes in March 2015.

According to the criminal complaint, Ritsema shared texts with this other person discussing their mutual interest in children and watching explicit videos together from 2014 to 2016.

The affidavit said he told his online correspondent that the boy in the photo he shared in March 2015 was 15 years old, was from a local high school and that he had sex with the teen.

Investigators say they have identified the teen from photos on Ritsema's cell phone. He was actually 14 at the time the photos were taken. He is now 17.

Ritsema is being held in the Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County.

He has no previous record. Originally hired as a math teacher, he's been with the school district since 2006. In addition to Cypress Creek Middle School, he worked at Seven Springs Middle School in New Port Richey, Paul Smith Middle School in Holiday and River Ridge Middle School in New Port Richey.

The Pasco County Sch0ol District sent a robotic call to all parents to allay concerns, saying, "The district has been notified that law enforcement’s concerns are not related to our students, school or the school district."

It is unclear why Homeland Security is involved.

Patch will have more information as it comes available.

Image via Shutterstock; mugshot via Hillsborough County Jail