Police in Bucks County are investigating after, officials said, a music instructor for the Pennsbury School District surrendered to law enforcement officials on Tuesday after facing child pornography charges.
Christopher Bygott, 47, of Hamilton, N.J., surrendered to law enforcement officials after allegedly being found in possession of thousands of images and videos that depicted child pornography, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday.
The district attorney's office said that an investigation into Bygott began on Dec. 5, after tips were submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
These tips were linked to an IP address, which was, allegedly, used to upload files containing depictions of child sexual abuse to an Amazon Photos account.
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Further investigation led detectives to link that IP address to the Pennsbury School District and information tied to that Amazon account was, allegedly, owned by Bygott.
On Dec. 13, law enforcement officials interviewed Bygott at the Pennsbury High School East campus in Falls Township, and the district attorney's office claims that an examination of his cellphone led to the discovery of at least 2,000 images and videos "that depicted sexual acts with children of various ages."
During that interview, officials claim, Bygott told police he was "sick" and "had a problem."
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In a statement, Thomas Smith, superintendent of the Pennsbury School District said students in the district were not believed to be involved in this case.
"Upon receiving the notification from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, the district took immediate action. The staff member in question was placed on unpaid administrative leave, has been banned from all district properties and district activities, and has been instructed not to communicate with any district staff, students, or families," Smith said in a statement.
Bygott was arraigned and released on $250,000 unsecured bail, with the conditions that he have no contact with any minors, have no internet usage and surrender his passport.
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