LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A former teacher’s assistant from Little Rock pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to three counts of the production of child pornography.
In a statement from the Office of the United States Attorney, Eastern District of Arkansas, 22-year-old Augustus “Gus” Shenker entered his pleading today after being indicted by a grand jury in June 2021.
According to the attorney’s office, in May 2021, the FBI received a tip about the storage of seven child pornography videos in an online directory. The location was established by a person whose email address contained Shenker’s first and last name.
The attorney’s office said that the FBI determined that Shenker was employed as a teaching assistant at Miss Selma’s School, a Little Rock early education school that attended to children from 18 months old to fifth grade.
The FBI received a search warrant, searched Shenker’s home, and seized his cell phone. Shenker admitted, according to law enforcement, that he once had a problem with child pornography years earlier, but it was no longer something he viewed.
Shenker also confirmed to investigators that the online storage was his, the attorney’s office said.
The school released a statement that it was cooperating with investigators and that Shenker no longer worked there.
Law enforcement found six videos from Shenker’s home created in March 2021. The videos showed Shenker inappropriately touching children in a school classroom.
Police also found a hidden folder on Shenker’s phone with 19 videos also taken at the school. Further investigation found thousands of images of child abuse on Shenker’s phone and other devices, the attorney’s office said.
A grand jury returned an indictment against Shenker on June 1, 2021, for 22 counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Shenker pleaded guilty to three production counts on Tuesday.
Shenker is due to be sentenced later. Court records show the minimum sentence for the charges is 15 years, to a maximum of 30 years with five years of supervision upon release, which will require his registering as a sex offender.
