Former Bellevue professor found with 2,000+ child porn images
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A former college instructor is facing child porn charges after being caught with more than 2,000 explicit photos of nude children.
Michael James Gelotte, 56, has been charged with possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Investigators said Gelotte was teaching a music technology class at Bellevue College when he was first found in possession of child pornography. The photos showed girls as young as 2 years old engaging in "sexually explicit acts or poses," according to the statement of probable cause.
Detectives said the former computer science instructor viewed child pornography for years, even while at his work space in the heart of campus, right next to the president's office.
Police say the photographs were first discovered last April when a pair of computer technicians saw Gelotte looking at several images of nude, young girls at his workstation at the college.
Those technicians remotely accessed his computer to send him a message, and they could see what was on his screen.
The technicians "observed that there were thumbnails of naked females," detectives said, and "Gelotte had enlarged some of them." They estimated the girls were between 7 to 12 years old, and thought some of them appeared to have been posed, they told investigators.
Police said a thumb drive containing 2,175 picture was connected to the computer at the time. Along with graphic sexual images, detectives also found close-up photos of girls' private areas.
When questioned by investigators, Gelotte admitted to having possession of the photos some of which he described as "art shots," according to the document. However, he told detectives he viewed the photos for sexual stimulation.
Gelotte also admitted to "downloading these types of photos at home in the past," the statement said, "and that he stopped 4 to 5 years ago when his son found some of the photos."
But Gelotte said he started again, detectives wrote, and this time "he also admitted to going to Yahoo! chat rooms to have online 'chat sex' with girls 12 to 24 years old."
Prosecutors say Gelotte was also trying to meet minors online just before his arrest. He no longer teaches at the college.
Gelotte was first arrested in May. He is scheduled to be arraigned next Thursday.
Michael James Gelotte, 56, has been charged with possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Investigators said Gelotte was teaching a music technology class at Bellevue College when he was first found in possession of child pornography. The photos showed girls as young as 2 years old engaging in "sexually explicit acts or poses," according to the statement of probable cause.
Detectives said the former computer science instructor viewed child pornography for years, even while at his work space in the heart of campus, right next to the president's office.
Police say the photographs were first discovered last April when a pair of computer technicians saw Gelotte looking at several images of nude, young girls at his workstation at the college.
Those technicians remotely accessed his computer to send him a message, and they could see what was on his screen.
The technicians "observed that there were thumbnails of naked females," detectives said, and "Gelotte had enlarged some of them." They estimated the girls were between 7 to 12 years old, and thought some of them appeared to have been posed, they told investigators.
Police said a thumb drive containing 2,175 picture was connected to the computer at the time. Along with graphic sexual images, detectives also found close-up photos of girls' private areas.
When questioned by investigators, Gelotte admitted to having possession of the photos some of which he described as "art shots," according to the document. However, he told detectives he viewed the photos for sexual stimulation.
Gelotte also admitted to "downloading these types of photos at home in the past," the statement said, "and that he stopped 4 to 5 years ago when his son found some of the photos."
But Gelotte said he started again, detectives wrote, and this time "he also admitted to going to Yahoo! chat rooms to have online 'chat sex' with girls 12 to 24 years old."
Prosecutors say Gelotte was also trying to meet minors online just before his arrest. He no longer teaches at the college.
Gelotte was first arrested in May. He is scheduled to be arraigned next Thursday.