Longmeadow Schools to hire private firm to see if there were warnings before child porn arrest

LONGMEADOW — The School Department will hire an independent firm to decide if staff missed warning signs or inappropriate behavior from a middle school librarian who is facing federal child pornography charges.

Superintendent M. Martin O'Shea announced the plan during a School Committee meeting Tuesday, six days after Scott McGinley was charged with distribution of child sex abuse materials. He is accused of being in possession of more than 100 files of child pornography.

During the meeting, O'Shea and School Committee Chairwoman Michaela Fitzgerald referred to the arrest as disturbing, disgusting and troubling. Several times they promised to be as open as possible and do everything to protect the safety of the students.

So far, no current or former students have come forward to say they were abused by McGinley. An investigation is ongoing, O'Shea said.

"It is our intention to look backward at everything that has happened by using an independent firm to take a look at the record and ask important questions just to make sure there is nothing we missed along the way," O'Shea said.

The school and city's lawyers have recommended three firms and said O'Shea can contract with one without approval of the School Committee. He said he wants to get the investigation started as soon as possible.

"We will act on whatever the findings are and we will act and grow and learn as an organization based on the report," he said.

He promised to release the report to the public and work with the School Committee to discuss any needed changes in policies and procedures members feel will improve student safety.

The School Committee set aside time for the public to speak but most of the discussion was about the proposal to replace two aging middle schools with one large one.

"The middle school librarian is an awful situation it is continuing. I hope the openness that we have seen and the compassion that you are seeing for our students continues," said Josh Levine, a parent and member of the middle school building committee, said before endorsing the one-school proposal.

School administrators, joined by multiple law enforcement including the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office and local police, have held two closed door meetings for parents and staff since the arrest. O'Shea has also issued a statement and released additional information to families over the school's website and by phone and text message.

Parent Joel Illouz, the father of four children 15, 13, 11 and 9, attended the meeting and said he is concerned warning signs were ignored, including a photo of McGinley from a dating site that was being passed around by seventh graders.

"At what point does the culture change?" Illouz sked. "I feel that things that happen in the schools are pushed aside because we want our reputation to be great."

He asked how it got so far that it put kids in danger, adding the arrest is especially worrisome since children who are disciplined are sent to the library.

During the meeting, the School Committee also voted unanimously to accept and release a short statement about the arrest.

"We are supportive of the school superintendent's response to the recent employee issue. We certainly support our dedicated and hard-working educators and staff. We are absolutely committed to putting student safety first and this committee stands ready to respond to any policy review or changes that arise during the third-party investigation," Fitzgerald said.

Most of the administrators, who are preparing for the Aug. 26 start of classes, also attended the School Committee meeting but none spoke.

McGinley, 55, of Holyoke, submitted his retirement papers the day before he turned himself into law enforcement. McGinley appeared in federal court last week and was released under multiple conditions, including that he remain at home with a GPS monitor.

The Friday before, the FBI searched his home and recovered two iPhones, an Apple Watch, a tablet and two laptops, U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley's office said. Inside a locked Pelican case in the basement were several items for children between 5 and 7 years old, authorities said.

The items inside included children's clothes, a Santa costume, diapers, diaper cream, boys' underwear, bedding and apple sauce packets, Foley's office said. A forensic examination of McGinley's phone also found over 100 files that depict child sex abuse, authorities said.

McGinley is accused of distributing sex abuse materials to a group called "Little Boyz Only," on an encrypted messenger app, Foley's office said.

An undercover agent pretending to be a user on an app contacted McGinley, who then told the agent that his sexual preference was for "boys age 2-12" and "especially 4-7," Foley's office said. He then told the agent that he had "students who were 11 to 14 years old" but "(hadn't) touched them sexually," and he sat "hot boys strategically so (he could) see under their desks, and close to (him). He also made graphic sexual statements about the boys."

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