April 26, 2022
Ofc. Kent Keller, PIO
Greeley Police Department
(970) 373-7755
[email protected]
GREELEY, Colo. – In December 2021, the Greeley Police Department received a cyber tip from Yahoo! Inc. The crime tip was generated from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip indicated multiple images of child pornography were shared from IP addresses belonging to Weld County School District Six and that the suspect was employed for the district.
The Greeley Police Department Investigations Unit immediately opened a criminal investigation based on the tip. Detectives quickly identified 58-year-old Kenneth Magruder as a suspect in this case. Magruder has been employed as a teacher at Greeley Central High School since December 1991 and is the manager of District 6 Stadium. Magruder has been on leave from District 6 since December 20, 2021.
The Greeley Police Department, Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and District 6 Security worked closely together on this investigation which culminated this morning, with the arrest of Kenneth Magruder. He was booked into the Weld County Jail without incident on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, a Class 4 Felony. These charges stem from Mr. Magruder’s alleged possession of child pornography. Currently, we have no reason to believe that any District 6 student was a victim in this case.
“Any kind of sexual exploitation of a child is detestable behavior. But when the suspect has also been entrusted with our communities’ children for over 30-years, it is especially troublesome. I am proud of the thorough work our detectives did to secure an arrest on this case and grateful that we have community partners like District 6 and HSI to assist us with our investigation,” said Interim Chief Adam Turk.
The charges are merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty. Any questions related to Magruder’s employment status should be directed to Weld County District 6 representatives. No additional information will be released today.
If you have any information on this case and have not been interviewed by officers, please contact Detective Leslie Schmidt-Johnson at 970-350-9572.