Local school district employee arrested for alleged child pornography use
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CHUBBUCK – A 43-year-old school district employee was arrested Tuesday after police say he downloaded and shared child pornography.
William Strength is charged with eight counts of felony willfully possessing or accessing child sexually exploitative material and two counts of felony knowingly distributing child sexually exploitative material.
According to court documents, Strength was employed by Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 as a climate control specialist.
“The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 (PCSD 25) confirms that William Strength was employed with the district beginning on 11/15/2018. The employee’s employment with the district concluded effective 04/29/2025,” says District 25 spokesperson, Courtney Fisher. “The employee did not have direct contact with children in his role with the district.”
Fisher says the district is committed to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment and “follows all applicable policies, procedures, and legal requirements in addressing personnel issues.”
Police reports say that on Nov. 25, an investigator for the Idaho Office of the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit was assigned a cybertip from May 20, showing four files of suspected child pornography that were uploaded by a user to the messaging app, Kik.
The content contained images of infants and young children being raped and sexually abused.
The investigator tracked the user’s account and found that Strength was listed as the IP address owner. They also learned that Strength lives in Chubbuck and worked for the school district.
On Dec. 20, investigators received the content from a search warrant, showing that Strength had allegedly spoken with other users about child pornography.
On Tuesday, Chubbuck police officers conducted a traffic stop on Strength and transported him to the Chubbuck Police Department for an interview.
The Idaho ICAC Task Force made the arrest with help from the Chubbuck Police Department, Pocatello Police Department, Idaho Falls Police Department, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and Department of Homeland Security (HSI).
During the interview, Strength reportedly admitted to owning the Kik account, and said it had been shut down. Investigators then showed him two censored child pornography videos found on his account, and Strength stated he recognized them from Kik.
Strength also allegedly admitted to recognizing a CGI image “depicting child sexual abuse” that was reportedly found on his Kik account.
According to court documents, Strength said he started sharing and receiving child pornography on Kik “about a year ago.” He stated that he “went down a rabbit hole” and was looking at child porn, but stated he “was a different person now that he is taking Ritalin”, a drug used to treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
Strength reportedly told the officers that he would delete the illegal content on his phone and said he didn’t currently have any on it.
He also denied that he had ever had any “hands-on sexual contact” with a minor.
Strength was arraigned in court on Wednesday, where he was booked into the Bannock County Jail with a $50,000 bond.
He is expected to appear in court again for a preliminary hearing on May 14. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit at (208) 947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
Parents, educators, and law enforcement officials can find more information and helpful resources at the ICAC website, ICACIdaho.org.