Robert James Plotkin, a teacher since 2012 at Clearwater Intermediate, a dropout prevention middle school at 1220 Palmetto St. in Clearwater, Florida has been arrested and is being charged with on 10 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of tampering with physical evidence, according to Largo police.
Local police were tipped off about Plotkin on March 15 after his roommate called police to notify them that she had spotted child pornography on Plotkin’s laptop. Plotkin knew officers were on the way, police said, because his roommate told him she reported him. The teacher then threw his laptop in a lake near his apartment at 225 Country Club Drive, police said. When officers arrived, Plotkin told them his computer was in the lake. Then he retrieved it for them, police said.
Officers took the laptop but did not arrest Plotkin. A cyber crimes investigator later retrieved images from the hard drive showing pornography involving children ages 3 to 17, police said. "This is 2017. It’s not gonna happen," said Largo Police Lieutenant Joe Coyle, referring to Plotkin's efforts to destroy the evidence. "You’re not going to throw a computer in the water and think that you’re gonna erase all your images."
Plotkin has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the criminal charges.
Plotkin’s Facebook page has no entries but states that he is originally from Ohio.
Child pornography is a scourge on our society and our community in particular. It endangers our children and the harm wrought by child sexual abuse leaves life-long scars.
Photo Credit by WTSP Tampa Bay Sarasota News
