A longtime Canton High School janitor appeared in court Wednesday charged with child porn. 62-year-old Neil Chaon faces two counts of possession of child pornography, felonies that could send him to prison for up to 20 years.
Chaon's attorney said in court on Wednesday that the school district has suspended him from his custodian's position. Despite his connection with the school district, the Lincoln County State's Attorney is assuring parents that it does not appear that any local kids are involved in this case.
A day after DCI agents came to his home to arrest Chaon for child pornography, we decided to find out what his family has to say.
Perry Groten: Hi, is this the Chaons?
Chaon's wife: Yes, it is.
Groten: I'm Perry with KELO-TV. We've got a camera rolling across the street. How are things going with Neil and that kind of thing?
Chaon's wife: They're good. I don't want to comment right now.
An investigation into file sharing networks pointed agents to Neil Chaon's home computer.
"The Division of Criminal Investigation frequently conducts investigations into these file sharing networks. Their investigation led them to an IP address that was listed here in Canton associated with him," Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman said.
Neighbors, who've learned about Chaon's employment with the school, are troubled by his arrest.
"My initial reaction was, 'Are you flipping kidding me? In a small town like this?'" neighbor Claudia Rezac said.
Wollman says at this point in the investigation, it does not appear that Chaon targeted any local kids.
"We will continue to follow up with that and in the event that we do believe we have any local victims, obviously, we will notify parents and folks in the community immediately," Wollman said.
But neighbors wonder if it's just a matter of time before local victims step forward.
"And we've got small kids around here too. If he's looking on the computer, he might be looking out the window. And he's been working with kids that long, when you're looking, you're looking and I'm uncomfortable with the whole situation," Rezac said.
The Canton School District is not commenting about Chaon.
The judge set Chaon's bond at $2,500. He cannot have contact with children and cannot visit places like schools and parks.
Chaon's preliminary hearing will be held next month.
Comments