Matthew G. McCann, 45, formerly of Festus, has been charged with possession of child pornography.
McCann, who currently lives in St. Louis County, used to work at Our Lady Catholic School in Festus as a child-care provider for the Y Club program, a before- and after-school child-care program the YMCA runs at various schools, said Steve Mastorakos of the Gateway Region YMCA.
He said McCann last worked for the YMCA in the spring of 2016.
“At the Gateway Region YMCA, the safety of the children and guests in our facilities and programs is our number one priority,” Mastorakos said. “Our employment policy requires individuals to pass a series of detailed and extensive background and reference checks before becoming employees. In addition, all employees must complete detailed training on an ongoing basis in several areas of personal and professional conduct which includes child abuse prevention training. Employees or former employees who fail or violate these checks and trainings are denied employment.”
More recently, McCann worked for the Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) as a teacher assistant at Eureka High School, said Charles Crouther, the school’s principal.
The charges against McCann do not involve any students from Eureka High or the Rockwood School District, Crouther said.
“As soon as we received this information (about McCann’s arrest) from the police, we contacted SSD, and they took immediate action,” Crouther said in an email he sent to Eureka High families. “This individual has been removed from his duties as an SSD teacher assistant at Eureka High School and is prohibited from being on any school district property. SSD shared that this employee was hired in August 2016, and all SSD employees must submit to and pass a criminal background check as a condition of employment.”
According to court documents, McCann allegedly had a Flickr account he used to upload images of nude female minors.
After receiving a “cyber-tip” from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, St. Louis County Police contacted McCann, who allegedly “confirmed that he had uploaded the images,” the probable-cause statement said.
On Dec. 2, after McCann gave officers consent to search his home, several electronic devices were seized for “forensic analysis,” the report said.
The next day the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged McCann with one count of possession of child pornography, a class C felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, and issued an arrest warrant for him, court records show.
He was taken into custody on Monday (Dec. 5) and was still being held today (Dec. 7) at the St. Louis County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond, according to court documents.