Ohio teacher denies child-porn charges

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio fourth-grade teacher has pleaded not guilty to a charge of having child pornography.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says 49-year-old Benjamin Trumbull was arrested Friday after a two-month investigation. A report says a search of Trumbull’s home in Columbus turned up hundreds of videos depicting young children engaging in sex acts stored on a laptop computer and other equipment.

Trumbull, who taught at Mills Lawn Elementary School in Yellow Springs near Dayton, was charged with pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Saturday.

He was suspended from his job. In a letter to parents, the school district superintendent said apparently there were no local students depicted in the material allegedly found in Trumbull’s possession.