A 31-year-old former child-care worker in San Mateo had hundreds of pornographic images of children on his home computer discovered by Santa Barbara County investigators who traced him through an Internet sharing site, according to prosecutors.
Nicholas Brian McKinley, who worked for child development organization “La Creche” in San Mateo, was charged with three counts of possessing child pornography between Jan. 1 and Nov. 20. He was arrested last week after the Santa Barbara County investigation allegedly turned up his use of the file sharing service “Shareaza.” An IP address in San Mateo that downloaded more than 100 known pornographic videos of children reportedly traced back to McKinley’s San Mateo apartment and prosecutors say a police search found hundreds of images on his personal computer.
As of Nov. 20, McKinley, who is held on $100,000 bail, is no longer connected with La Creche, according to the organization which declined further comment on his employment.
La Creche provides programs and care for infants, toddlers and children ages 2 to 6.
The center is “deeply saddened” to learn of the criminal charges but those alleged activities were in his private life and “in no way related to the child development center,” the organization said in a prepared statement.
At his initial arraignment, McKinley pleaded not guilty to all charges and waived his right to a speedy trial. The three separate charges indicate the times McKinley allegedly downloaded the material as the law only allows prosecutors to charge per incident and not each individual image.
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He returns to court Dec. 4 to set a preliminary hearing date.
If convicted, he faces four years and four months in prison, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti.
Defense attorney Jonathan McDougall could not be reached for comment.
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