Friends call him a "nice guy". But now, a Boulder City teacher and soccer coach faces over 64 counts of possession of child pornography. News 3's Katherine Whaley reports on how police made the arrest and what parents have to say about the allegations.
"It's frightening that it's happening here in Boulder City because we are a really tight knit, small community," worries Boulder City parent Karol Duncan.
Duncan's 6th grade son is just one of hundreds of children Richard Rogers has come into contact with during his 17 years with the Clark County School District. "Well, they have no business being around kids," Duncan added.
But friends and parents will tell you Rogers, who is a teacher at Garrett Middle School and a part time Parks and Recreation employee, made it his business to be around children.
"He's involved in everything these kids do. I'm a parent, my kids go to school here and I have contact with Rick probably on a weekly basis," another parent, Chuck Gebhart, said.
That makes allegations of possession of child pornography all the more unthinkable. "The images that I saw were quite disturbing," Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn told News 3.
Finn was contacted after Henderson Police were tipped off by an anonymous letter. Police picked Rogers up from Garrett Middle School after searching his home, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the school.
Explains Finn, "We encountered computers, VHS tapes, some additional SD cards, media storage devices."
Not all of the evidence has been analyzed, but a police report reveals that the victims in the images were young boys engaged in various sex acts with older men and other boys.
The Clark County School District has placed Rogers on paid administrative leave. He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $192,000 bail. Boulder City Police have not determined whether Rogers was involved in making the pornographic images or if any of the victims are local.