Teacher's aide accused of abusing more children

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - A school teacher's aide in Noblesville is facing federal charges that include 24 counts of sexual exploitation and production of child porn.

In September, the federal prosecutor said undercover cops received a tip that 30-year-old Andrew McGrath was producing child pornography with a girl under the age of five. It now appears several other children were allegedly abused by McGrath.

Court documents detail the allegations against McGrath. You can read them here and here . Caution: the documents contain explicit language.

Fifteen pages explain how Andrew McGrath of Carmel allegedly posed four little girls for pornographic pictures and allegedly used they to make pornographic home movies. Federal investigators identified at least four victims. All the girls are under the age of 12.

Each count McGrath is facing carries a maximum of 30 years in prison.

McGrath was arrested in September for producing child pornography. Police said McGrath admitted to taking sexually explicit pictures of a young girl from Carmel.

According to the probable cause affidavit, police found numerous images of child pornography on McGrath's digital camera and on a separate thumb drive inside the Carmel home where McGrath lives with his parents.

"Well it is obviously considered more grave and more serious when you are dealing with someone that is actually producing it." said Morrison.

Morrison also said McGrath took pictures and home movies of the girls over a five year period.

According to court documents, McGrath admitted to detectives that he produced images of a girl who was less than five-years-old.

The documents go on to describe what is seen in the pictures of the victim listed as Jane Doe, fully nude, sitting on a stool in a graphic and unnatural position. The court documents state the porn was produced at McGrath's parent's home in Carmel, where McGrath lived. Federal investigators say McGrath posed the girls in his own bedroom, on his bed.

Detective Mike Widener is a detective with the Hamilton County Crimes against Children Unit. He and fellow detectives on the unit use digital equipment to read hard drives and cell phones at suspects homes. He said, "In just about every case that we do it's very normal for us to bring this type of equipment with us whether to look at hard drives or cell phones just so that we can determine which computer that we really want to focus on."

Widener worked on the McGrath case alongside federal investigators. He says they count on the evidence they find on computers and cell phones. He says it's what helps them make the arrests. "It's pretty good evidence, yeah." said Widener.

He also admits cases like this are becoming more common. "I'd say within the last year we've ran into more production cases than we've seen previously. So, in the years leading up to where we are now with a full time task force with Carmel Fishers and Noblesville obviously we are seeing more production which you are in a whole different type of investigation."

We wanted to talk to McGrath. However, he is in U.S. Marshals custody at an undisclosed location.

U. S. Attorney Morrison expects a trial date to be scheduled in the next 70 days at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Indianapolis.

Since January 2008, McGrath was a teacher's assistant at Tri-County Education Center in Noblesville , a school for severely disabled children. McGrath was fired when the allegations came to light.

Carmel Schools Superintendent Barb Underwood said McGrath had access to children ages 3-22 at the school. He worked in the transitional skills classroom, which meant he would help students develop life skills, depending on their disability.