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SANDY — A man who had been employed by the Canyons School District for just two days as a special education aide at an elementary school has been arrested and accused of possessing child sex abuse material.
Michael S. Rasmussen, 51, of Salt Lake City, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday and charged Friday in 3rd District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began in September when an IP address was detected to be sharing child sex abuse material on two peer-to-peer networks. Police say the images were of girls between the ages of 8 and 12.
On Wednesday, after tracing the IP address, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children task force served a search warrant at Rasmussen's residence.
"During the search of (Rasmussen's) residence officers seized (his) electronic devices. While seizing his laptop, officers observed child sex abuse material and the suspect file sharing program on the laptop. The laptop had a sticker on it identifying it as property of the Salt Lake School District," according to charging documents.
Rasmussen previously worked for the Salt Lake City School District, according to his LinkedIn page.
"Rasmussen confirmed he used the specific file sharing program and sought out files of teenagers," according to a police booking affidavit. "He claimed it excited him to have it in his possession."
At least 10 files containing child sex abuse material were found, the charges state.
According to investigators, "Rasmussen currently is employed at Canyons School District as a special ed aide working in an elementary school."
A Canyons School District spokesman on Thursday said Rasmussen — who had been assigned as an aide just two days before his arrest — has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
"Student safety is a top priority of the Canyons School District and children remained supervised with another adult while Mr. Rasmussen was working in his position," district spokesman Jeff Haney said.
