Dozens of angry parents are demanding answers from the Wilton school superintendent after a former teacher’s aide at a preschool was arrested on child pornography charges last week.
“I was shocked,” said Paige Ridley, who just learned that her 3-year-old child’s teacher’s aide was arrested on child porn charges last week. “I knew he had close contact with her, so I was very upset.”
She told NBC Connecticut that the suspect, Eric Von Kohorn, was in her daughter’s preschool classroom at the Miller-Driscoll School in Wilton last year. Now she questions if her child was a possible target.
“Obviously I worry about my daughter’s safety,” Ridley added.
She was one of dozens of upset parents who faced the superintendent on Monday night, demanding to know if their children were in danger.
“We want to know what happened. We want to hear from the police about what they've investigated,” Ridley said.
School officials told the crowd that police contacted them in June and said Von Kohorn was under investigation.
That’s when he resigned from the district. According to the superintendent, they seized his school computer and home computer.
Detectives said his alleged misconduct only took place at his Bridgeport home and he didn’t take inappropriate pictures of Wilton students or harm them.
“While he was an employee of Wilton public schools, he was not inappropriately touching students,” Supt. Dr. Kevin Smith said.
Parents also questioned how the school hired Von Kohorn in the first place. District offiials said he passed state and federal background checks and has no criminal or arrest history.
Von Kohorn is out of jail on bond and will face a judge September 3.
NBC Connecticut previously knocked on Von Kohorn's door for comment, but no one answered, and his attorney could not be reached immediately for comment.
