School staff arrested on child pornography charges in Mesa

MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — A Mesa man who works as a high school custodian has been arrested in connection with child pornography.

Steven A. Gardoni, 38, faces four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after his arrest earlier this week.

Steven A. Gardoni, 38, faces charges of sexual exploitation in connection with child pornography.(Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)

On Monday, Yahoo, Inc. reported to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a subscriber uploaded and distributed child pornography. The company flagged 11 files in an account registered to a subscriber who lives in Mesa.

NCMEC notified Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forceand the case was assigned to Phoenix police detectives. Court documents say the tip was escalated because one of the flagged files was believed to be newly produced or home-made content depicting child sexual abuse against a child.

The documents say detectives learned the suspect, later identified as Gardoni, had been using his email account to send and receive files.

In one case, Gardoni emailed a QR code to someone else that was linked to his Telegram account, where his username was “Little Diaper Lover.”

The investigators also established that he was a night watchman at Skyline High School in Mesa.

He was arrested at his Mesa apartment early Wednesday afternoon.

During an interview with detectives, documents say Gardoni admitted to being the owner of the Yahoo account.

Detectives then asked him if he knew about “the internet activity,” and Gardoni allegedly replied, “it’s child pornography” and that they could take him to jail now.

According to the documents, he admitted to using his email address and Telegram account to exchange files depicting child sexual abuse, including photos and videos of babies.

Gardoni told investigators that all the cases involved children under the age of 6 and that “he’s just watching out of curiosity.”

He was later booked into the Maricopa County Jail.

The principal of Skyline High School sent the following message to families:

Skyline Families,

I am contacting you to let you know that one of our night custodians, Steve Gardoni, was arrested today by the Phoenix Police Department on child pornography charges.

Your child’s safety is our top priority. The custodian was immediately placed on administrative leave. The district will work most closely with the Phoenix Police Department. He has been employed by Mesa Public Schools since 2022. He passed a background check as a condition of employment and we had no indication of inappropriate behavior until his arrest. We will continue to follow all district protocols to ensure the safety of our students.

Thank you,

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