State Police Arrest Special Ed Teacher

WEST WARWICK, RI — The Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit/Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force on Thursday arrested a special education teacher who works at the Morton Middle School in Fall River, Mass.

Henry W. Tedeschi, 54, of West Warwick, was charged with possession of child pornography. State police raided his home this morning with a court-authorized search warrant. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Third District Court in Warwick later today.

Task Force members recently received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an individual possessing child pornography in his e-mail account. The Internet connection was identified as being the one used to access the email account in question, state police allege.

Tedeschi was identified him as the alleged owner of the email account. Members of the Task Force seized eight (8) items of digital media for further forensic analysis, and additional charges may be pending.

He has worked in both the Massachusetts and Rhode Island school systems for approximately 30 years, police said.

"At this time, there is no evidence of any inappropriate contact between Tedeschi and any of his current or former students," state police said. However, they are investigating.