A Scottsdale middle school teacher is behind bars facing grave accusations of sexual exploitation of minors. Michael Patrick Gill, a 53-year-old language arts teacher at Cocopah Middle School, was arrested on November 18 after an investigation led by law enforcement officials in Maricopa County.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Yahoo tipped off the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on October 18 about an account associated with possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Later, Yahoo provided further evidence that presumably identified the suspect as Michael Gill, leading to his arrest. In a streak of confessions, the teacher admitted to authorities that he would often consume alcohol excessively before searching the internet for diverse forms of explicit content, including CSAM. Disturbingly, he confessed that the ages of the minors in the CSAM mirrored those of the students he taught.
Unsettled parents expressed their alarm, with one guardian telling Arizona’s Family, “Its concerning, it’s a parent’s worst nightmare.” The same report also disclosed comments from the initial court appearance, with prosecutors labelling Gill as an extreme danger due to deliberately placing himself amidst minors…