FBI to probe Syracuse elementary school in child porn investigation

By Mason Merritt
CNY Central
March 22, 2016

http://cnycentral.com/news/local/fbi-to-probe-syracuse-elementary-school-in-child-porn-investigation

FBI to probe Syracuse elementary school after one of recent child porn suspects was discovered to have been working there.

SYRACUSE -- One of the people arrested last week in a federal child pornography sting was a worker at Syracuse's All Saints Elementary School.

Emily Oberst, 23, of Syracuse, was arrested last Friday by the FBI. Jason Kopp, 40, of Liverpool was also arrested. Federal agents accused the pair of sexually abusing a toddler and posting images and videos of the crime online. Oberst and Kopp are both being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center without bail.

The school says Oberst was terminated. The letter to parents goes on to say the school is cooperating with authorities but got stark news from the FBI Monday. "We learned that there may be additional victims of Miss Oberst's criminal activity, including students at All Saints. At this time, we can neither confirm the identities nor the numbers of students who may be involved." The letter also informs parents that they may be contacted by federal agents as the investigation continues.

The letter, signed by the All Saints Board, promises to keep parents informed as it gets new relevant information.

An undercover federal investigator out of the Metropolitan Police Department - Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force began communicating on the Kik app with a user later identified as Jason Kopp. A federal criminal complaint states, In an exchange of texts Kopp shared numerous images of an infant child "which depict the lewd and lascivious exhibition of her genitals." Other images show Kopp "engaged in acts of sexual abuse of the child."

During the investigation, the criminal complaint states, agents became aware of Emily Oberst as the person who was supplying the images of the child. During an interview with investigators, Oberst admitted she has taken "a total of 45-50 sexually explicit images of the infant and sent them to 'Jason', and that all sexually explicit images she has sent to 'Jason' depict the same infant female child, who is currently 16 months old."

The federal criminal complaint shows investigators uncovered physical evidence connecting Oberst to the images. They also indicate the discovery of forensic evidence on Kopp's cell phone.

All Saints is an independent school with no affiliation with the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. The school's website says it does "teach Catholic values and a Catholic curriculum."