Prince George's County coach, substitute teacher charged with child porn

CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. - A Prince George's County substitute teacher and youth basketball coach is facing child pornography charges.

Maryland State Police arrested 34-year-old Christopher Speights Thursday at a home in Capitol Heights where he lives with his mother. He is charged with three counts of distribution of child pornography and six counts of possession of child pornography.

Speights was a substitute teacher at Bradbury Heights Elementary in Prince George's County and a basketball coach with the South County Sports Academy.

In December, police learned about someone using the internet to distribute images and video believed to be child pornography. A search warrant was obtained and served at Speight's home Thursday morning.

Investigators said they seized Speights' iPhone, iPad and computer linked to a Dropbox account. On the cloud storage account, Maryland State Police's Computer Crimes Unit found several child pornography videos. Investigators believe the children in those videos were as young as 7 years old.

A complete examination of the devices found will be conducted by forensics investigators.

Police said more charges are pending against Speights.

Prince George's County Public Schools said in a statement:

Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) is aware that substitute teacher Christopher Speights has been arrested. We will cooperate fully with law enforcement in its investigation. Due to the nature of the claims, Christopher Speights will no longer serve the school district.

Any behavior that brings harm to a child will not be tolerated in any way in PGCPS. Over the past year, we have made significant changes to increase student safety and remain committed to ensuring a quality education in a safe environment for all students.

The Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division is continuing this investigation. Anyone with information about the accused or concerned about contact their child may have had with him is urged to contact investigators at 410-953-8272.