Teen who worked at Shrewsbury middle school arrested on child porn charges

A Lunenburg man who worked at a Shrewsbury middle school was arrested Thursday on child pornography charges, according to authorities.

Aiden York, 19, has been charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination of visual material of a child in a state of nudity or sexual conduct, Lunenburg police said in a statement. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday in Fitchburg District Court, court records show.

York was an ABA technician paraeducator at Sherwood Middle School and worked in summer and special education programs at several Shrewsbury schools, Shrewsbury Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Sawyer said in a statement. Following his arrest, he was placed on leave and had his access to all district buildings revoked.

Investigators received a tip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children that child pornography files were found on a Snapchat account associated with York’s email address and phone number. The IP address that was being used to access the account was later traced to York’s home in Lunenburg, according to a statement of facts.

Lunenburg police obtained a search warrant and allegedly found child sexual abuse material on York’s account. Additionally, he was allegedly “actively disseminating” pornographic videos and sent them to another user, court records show.

In a conversation recovered from the account, York allegedly discussed sexually abusing a male child and implied that he was actively searching for child pornography, according to the statement of facts. Investigators also allegedly found a video of York masturbating in the parking lot of a public park in Worcester.

During an interview following his arrest, York allegedly admitted to possessing and distributing child porn and meeting someone on TikTok who sent him additional child sexual abuse material, according to court filings.

Lunenburg police have since confirmed that the charges against York are not connected to any students in the Shrewsbury school district. However, school officials have been in contact with the families of the students he worked with, according to Sawyer.

“The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority,” Sawyer said in the statement. “Our school district will continue to be in communication with the Lunenburg and Shrewsbury Police and the District Attorney’s office regarding these criminal charges, and we will provide any additional information and support as necessary.”

York was released on $2,500 bail with an order to avoid unsupervised contact with minors under 16, according to court records. He is due back in court Feb. 10 for a hearing.

York’s attorneys, Pauline Cormier and Keith Higgins, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. Shrewsbury police have asked anyone who has information about York or believes their child may have been affected to contact them directly at 508-845-1212 or use the Massachusetts Child-at-Risk Hotline at 1-800-792-5200.