Former Gym Teacher Arrested On Child Porn Charges; Police Suspect Local Victims

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Broward Sheriff's Office detectives have arrested a former gym teacher they say possessed and compiled child pornography.

BSO says Hassan Jawad, 37, was arrested at his Deerfield Beach home at around 9 a.m. Friday.

BSO detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force say they received information that a computer had been advertising or sharing child pornography images online since January 2019.

Authorities say detectives uncovered a number of videos and images of boys who appeared between the ages of 7 and 13, engaged in sexual acts with other boys or men.

Jawad had worked at Twister Gymnastics in Boca Raton for more than a year and was previously employed at New England Academy of Gymnastics in Marlborough, Mass., police said.

On Friday afternoon, Twister Gymnastics released the following statement:

"We are completely devastated and we're shocked after hearing this today. We're angry. We never received any complaints about his behavior or any reason to suspect he had any inappropriate contact with a minor. We're deeply committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children that enter our doors."

The staff at Twisters Gymnastics in Boca Raton are reeling after the arrest.

"We were completely shocked and disappointed and honestly, very angry," said Sara Shugars, Director of Operations.

Shugars said Jawad worked for more than a year coaching kids from preschool age to about 12 years old. She said they had no inkling of any bad behavior by Jawad.

"There was never any indication," she said. "There was never a single parent complaint. There was never a staff member complaint. There was never any indication of anything like this going on."

Investigators with the Broward Sheriff's Office say Jawad popped onto their radar recently.

Thursday morning they served a search warrant at Jawad's Deerfield Beach apartment.

Sergeant Thomas Mcinerney said Jawad confessed to downloading the child porn and BSO found "several images of child pornography on his computer and other evidence as well." McInerney also said Jawad told them he never touched any kids and they have no evidence at this point that he did, but detectives are alerting the community just in case.

"Anytime they have a position of trust or position of authority over kids or access to kids and they're actively downloading child pornography and they're aroused by child pornography, it's always a concern," McInernery said.

BSO said their checks showed nothing in Jawad's background. Sara Shugars said the same thing. She said they do state and federal background checks as well as checks through DCF and USA Gymnastics.

"We do every single thing we can for this not to happen," she said. "Nothing has ever come up."

The gymnastics school said Jawad has been terminated from his job and they're working to reassure parents that after 26 years their facility can be trusted.

"We're doing everything we can to keep their kids safe," Shugars said. "That is our primary concern and our biggest responsibility and it will continue to be."

Detectives are looking to determine if Jawad victimized any children and are concerned there may be local victims.

Jawad faces a total of nine counts in the case.

Anyone with additional information on Jawad's arrest should contact BSO at 954-888-5239 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).