Local school employee faces allegations of child porn and lewd conduct
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SHELLEY -— A paraprofessional at a local charter school is facing serious felonies after a cybertip resulted in detectives allegedly discovering he had recorded videos of himself molesting a 4-year-old boy.
Benjamin Thomas Simms, 34, is facing one felony count of possessing child sexually explicit materials and one felony count of lewd conduct with a minor.
He faces up to life in prison if he is found guilty.
American Heritage Charter School lists Simms as a K-3 music teacher for the charter. Minutes from a school board meeting state he was hired for the 2025-2026 school year on Aug. 8 as a paraprofessional.
EastIdahoNews.com contacted American Heritage Charter School about the allegation and was referred to the charter’s superintendent, Tiffnee Hurst, who said the charter school was aware that an employee of the school was being investigated.
She said that, due to the investigation, she could not say more about Simms, but that he had been placed on administrative leave. Based on understanding of the situation, it doesn’t seem that any students were involved as far as the charter school’s knowledge so far.
An email was sent out to parents informing them that an employee of the school was being investigated by law enforcement. It was provided to EastIdahoNews.com by a community member, and its contents were confirmed by Hurst. It is below.
Dear Parents,
We have learned that one of our part-time staff members has been involved in a law enforcement matter. The matter does not involve our school. We have placed the staff member on administrative suspension pending a resolution of the matter. The individual will not be present at school while the situation is being reviewed.
Student safety and well-being is our top priority. While the incident did not involve our school, we note that the staff member’s interactions with students at school occurred in supervised classroom settings having both security cameras and with other staff present or who were in and out of the classroom.
Because this involves a personnel matter, we are limited in what we can share, but we want you to know we are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all students.
Thank you for your continued support of our school community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Hurst
Hurst said parents who still have questions are asked to contact the school.
According to court documents, Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce was investigating a cybertip from Snapchat that was filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Jan. 6.
The tip states a user on the social media app had uploaded 15 pieces of media that depicted possible child pornography. Along with the tip were two IP addresses and an email for the account.
The task force investigated the IP addresses and found that one belonged to a mental health and medical facility in Ammon, and the other showed a residence in Shelley.
Surveillance was conducted at the home in Shelley, during which detectives found two vehicles, including one belonging to Simms.
The document states that detectives used social media and law enforcement databases to find photos of Simms and discovered that in some of the videos of child porn, the man in them matched Simms.
Five videos are described in the documents. They involved a child, who was later found to be a 4-year-old, and a man identified as Simms.
A search warrant was obtained on March 12 and was executed at around 7 p.m. with the assistance of the Idaho Falls Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, Pocatello Police Department and Shelley Police Department.
A detective said that during the search of the home, portions of the home were recognizable from the videos of the alleged child porn.
Simms was found in a bedroom, detained, and then taken to the Shelley Police Station for an interview.
After his Miranda rights were read to him, Simms agreed to speak with detectives. He allegedly admitted to having naked photos and creating lewd videos of the child.
The criminal complaint states that the conduct occurred between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31.
Simms also admitted to using anonymous applications to talk with groups about incest and bestiality, but claims to have never clicked on any links nor received images of child porn, police said.
Simms is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge James Howard Barrett Jr. for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. on March 26.
Though Simms has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.