Nicholas Hodges, 28, reportedly works as a swimming instructor at La Petite Baleen swim school in San Francisco and has been under suspicion for some time of being involved in child pornography. San Francisco police say Hodges was arrested on Tuesday after police entered his house under a search warrant and seized several electronic devices which contained more than 600 pornographic images of children.
Swimming instructor under investigation since March
As reported by SFGate, Hodges has been under investigation by the Internet Crimes against Children Unit of the San Francisco Police Department since March this year, after investigators discovered hundreds of graphic child pornography photos that had been uploaded for storage and distribution online.
The police department's investigation eventually led to the arrest of the swim instructor on Tuesday at his place of work.
Reportedly during Hodges' arrest, police seized a cellphone from the swimming instructor which turned out to contain yet more evidence of child pornography and exploitation. Hodges has now been placed in custody on suspicion of committing several offenses, which include child pornography, distributing child pornography, using minors for sex acts and sending out harmful matter to a minor. Hodges is currently behind bars with the bail set at $335,000.
Swim school is ‘shocked and horrified’
According to John Kolbison, the owner and CEO of the school, Hodges has been in the employ of the La Petite Baleen swim school since September 2015.
Hodges page on Facebook reveals that he has also held previous positions in the past with the House of Air - a San Francisco indoor trampoline park – and with the Disney Store in San Francisco.
KRON4 quotes Kolbison as saying in a statement that he and the swim school's staff are “shocked and horrified” to hear about the charges against Hodges.
He added that they took immediate steps to look into the matter and terminate the swimming instructor's employment. Kolbison said they are informing their employees and have also started notifying the parents of their students. Kolbison did add that at this stage they are unaware of any evidence linking the students at their swim school with the child pornography charges against Hodges. According to the San Francisco police, they said in a statement that the swim school is fully cooperating with their investigation.
