A four-day undercover operation targeting online child predators led to the arrests of 14 people, including a local elementary school teacher and a former patrol officer at a local university.
“Operation Spider Web,” headed by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, ran from Thursday, Oct. 26, to Sunday, Oct. 29, according to a Friday news release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
Timothy Tatko, 55, of Mayfield Heights, is a teacher at Orchard Hollow Elementary School, part of Mentor Public Schools, the district confirmed on Friday.
He was arrested in Mayfield Heights, according to prosecutors.
Authorities have identified 14 suspects ages 22 to 71, nearly all of whom are from Northeast Ohio, who they say engaged in “sexually explicit online conversations with undercover officers posing as children” on popular social media platforms, reads the release.
“We are still in the process of gathering information related to specific details of the situation,” reads a Friday statement from a district spokesperson. “However, at this point in time, the district has not received any information indicating that any Mentor student was involved in the circumstances leading to the arrest.”
Upon learning of Tatko’s arrest, the district placed him on administrative leave and ordered him not to have contact with anyone in the district, pending the results of an internal investigation.
“We are taking the allegations very seriously and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement officials working on this case,” the statement continues. “Keeping our students safe is our No. 1 priority and we will do everything we can to protect them.”
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