Updated at 7:39 p.m.
An elementary school janitor in Morristown was arrested and charged Friday with promoting and possessing child sexual abuse material, Vermont prosecutors said.
Levi Gamble, 40, of Wolcott, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of promoting a recording of child sexual conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He also denied a misdemeanor charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
His charges stem from a cybertip that the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, indicating that Gamble possessed and promoted a file of suspected child sexual abuse material on the messaging platform Discord.
A police review of the file showed child sexual abuse material, according to the police statement of probable cause in Gamble’s case.
Gamble works as a night custodian at Morristown Elementary School, said Lauren Jandl, spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office. The school is part of the Lamoille South Unified Union School District.
In response to questions, Superintendent Ryan Heraty told VTDigger that the school district hired Gamble in July 2014. Heraty declined to comment further, but forwarded an email he sent to families in the school district on Friday afternoon.
The message said Gamble has been put on leave and there’s no indication he’d victimized a local student. “According to law enforcement, at this time there is no indication that any Lamoille South student was a victim, nor is there evidence of criminal activity on school grounds,” Heraty wrote.
Investigators searched Gamble’s home Friday morning, when they seized multiple devices and arrested him, according to the affidavit. The devices will be forensically examined, the Attorney General’s Office said.
Following the hearing at the Lamoille Superior criminal court, Judge Scot Kline ordered Gamble released on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond. He was released on conditions that include restricted access to minors and devices that are capable of accessing the internet, the Attorney General’s Office said.
— Tiffany Tan
