A Cherokee County teacher who discussed his students in sexually charged conversations with an undercover federal agent will be barred from school grounds pending the outcome of child porn charges filed against him, the school district announced Friday.
A review of Raymond "Robin" Watts' resume seems to confirm what he allegedly told the undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent about participating in activities "to be near ... minor boys." The Mill Creek Middle School science teacher served as a swimming instructor, soccer coach and "mentor" to three students.
Watts, 55, was arrested soon after sharing more than 1,000 explicit images of underage boys with the ICE agent. Authorities uncovered additional illegal images on his personal computer after executing a search warrant of his Kingston home.
The veteran teacher came to law enforcement's attention during an investigation of the "Boylover" pedophile community, the affidavit states. A cooperating source told investigators the science instructor had swapped child porn with two longtime members of the online community.
After communicating via e-mail, the undercover agent met with Watts on Jan. 29 at a Cartersville restaurant, according to the affidavit. They then drove to the teacher's residence, where "the conversation centered on kids sports and their interest in children." According to the sworn statement, Watts stated he was predominantly attracted to boys ages 9 to 12
During subsequent telephone conversations Watts talked about working at a Mill Creek boys basketball game, the agent testified.
The two met again Feb. 12 at Watts' home where the suspect transferred 1,027 images to the agent's thumb drive.
The teacher also confessed he once took a thumb drive containing child porn to Mill Creek and "inadvertently left it there," the affidavit states. "Watts stated no one found it but he was worried until he was able to retrieve it," the agent testified.
Neither Watts or his attorney has notified the school district about his arrest, as required, the Cherokee school spokeswoman said. Cherokee schools were on break this week.
"Although all child pornography cases are tragic because of their victims, this case was even more troubling because the defendant taught in a middle school where he had daily interaction with children," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.
Watts, who made an initial appearance Thursday in federal district court, is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday on charges of possessing and distributing child porn.
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