GAFFNEY, SC (WBTV) - A Limestone College instructor was fired amid allegations he was part of a cross-country child pornography ring, college officials told WBTV.
United States Marshals arrested, Robert Kolodzy, 30, at his Gaffney home November 10, records show.
According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, FBI Special Agent Robert Hamod said agents with the FBI San Diego Division identified a group of people involved in trading child pornography.
James Entzminger had been identified as a key player in the ring, records filed in California show.
Agents searched Entzminger's emails and discovered he was sending explicit messages to a Hotmail account that was later traced to South Carolina, Hamod wrote.
Among the emails, he goes on to explain, it appeared the owner of the Hotmail account was sexually abusing an 8 year old child; watching pornography with the child and performing sexual acts.
Entzminger told investigators he would watch the activity through a web camera.
Hamod said agents obtained a search warrant for the Hotmail account and it led them to Kolodzy's home in Gaffney.
"Kolodzy admitted that these conversations were of a sexual nature," Hamod wrote, adding, "Kolodzy admitted that some of the video communications involved and 8 year old boy in a state of undress."
"On at least one occasion while video communicating with "James" [the boy] touched him in a sexual way."
In an email, Limestone College spokesperson Eric Lawson said Kolodzy was a Physical Education Instructor and Assistant Athletic Trainer with the college before he was fired Saturday. When Kolodzy was arrested Thursday, Lawson said the college suspended him but the severity of punishment changed when campus officials learned the specific details of the allegations.
"As the details of the charges were made known and we learned the extremely serious nature of the accusations, I made the decision that his employment at Limestone College must be terminated immediately," Limestone College President Walt Griffin said.
Griffin said he asked the school's attorney, William Rhoden, to conduct an independent investigation on the Limestone College campus to ensure no other employees were involved in the alleged crimes. "We prefer to authorize this independent investigation to be absolutely sure," he said.
Kolodzy was granted a conditional release by a U.S. Magistrate with strict conditions, including a requirement not to leave South Carolina.
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