A middle school teacher was taken into custody on Monday night for having materials related to child sexual abuse, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Mark Sirard, 52, from Sacramento, was in the Sacramento County Main Jail with a bail set at $50,000, which he has since posted. He is now out of police custody.
His arrest was based on information shared by authorities in the United Kingdom and other international law enforcement agencies. The sheriff’s office and Homeland Security Investigations looked into the case.
According to the Sacramento City Unified School District, Sirard was an English Language Arts teacher for seventh and eighth grades at Leonardo Da Vinci K-8 School. He began his role in the district back in 1999, but he hasn’t visited any district locations since May. He is now on administrative leave.
“The news is deeply disturbing as our highest priority as a school district is to protect our students and staff from harm on our school sites,” the school district wrote in a statement.
“As we continue to cooperate with law enforcement, we remain fully committed to taking every necessary step to protect and support our students.”
The investigation into the crime is currently active and continuing. If you have any information about this case or other unreported crimes connected to Sirard, please reach out to 916-874-3002.