The former private school janitor accused of recording students in the restroom and receiving child pornography was arraigned Thursday in federal court.
Josh Ensley, 51, of Tucker, has been in federal custody since his Oct. 25 arrest after a search warrant was executed at his home. The former janitor for the Paideia School was indicted on Nov. 19 for production and receipt of child pornography, according to acting U.S. Attorney F. Gentry Shelnutt.
“The defendant is charged with using his unique position within a school to violate the fundamental trust of its students for his own disturbing pleasure,” Shelnutt said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to identify and prosecute those who use their positions of trust to victimize children.”
Court documents state that in addition to allegedly spending more than $1,300 on at least 50 DVDs, Ensley told investigators that he used tiny cameras to record boys and girls in the restrooms at Paideia.
“Josh Ensley said he would hide the camera in a hollowed air freshener and place it by the boys’ urinal and on a broom handle in the girls’ handicapped bathroom stall,” the criminal complaint against him states.
The charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum confinement period of 15 years and a maximum term of 30 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The charge of receiving child pornography carries a mandatory minimum confinement period of five years and a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
Both charges carry a fine of up to $250,000 and a period of supervised release from five years to life.
