A Florida middle school teacher who was arrested for child pornography claimed he was looking "to see if he recognized" the victims.
Authorities were first alerted to an internet user uploading child sexual abuse material to find similar images on August 1, 2023. Investigators then subpoenaed the internet service provider and identified the suspect as 69-year-old Mark Penttila, according to reporting by NBC6.
This happened again in November and December 2024, and law enforcement obtained a search warrant and confronted Penttila in January 2025. He was arrested after police seized his laptop and found 10 images of children as young as 2 years old being abused.
Penttila, who spent nearly 30 years as a teacher in the Palm Beach County School District, initially denied searching for the images, claiming he "might of unknowingly clicked" a site.
He later admitted he was "curious about it" before telling investigators "he looked at the material to see if he recognized the people in the image and to know if they were in his community. Later Penttila went on to say, 'I am interested in the problem of child pornography that is for sure. I am interested in all children's problems. You know, that's one of the things teachers do is they make themselves aware of any dangers in the community.'" NBC6 reported.
Penttila was arrested and charged with 10 counts of possessing child pornography. He is being held on a $100,000 bond.
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