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ALPINE — A teacher at an Alpine elementary school has been arrested in a child pornography investigation.

Edward A. Greene, 54, of Spanish Fork, was booked into the Utah County Jail Friday for investigation of 10 counts of exploitation of a minor. Greene has been a fifth grade teacher at Westfield Elementary in Alpine for six years. Prior to that, he taught out of state.

Alpine School District spokesman John Patten said as of Tuesday, there was no evidence to suggest that any of Greene's students were victimized or that Greene viewed child pornography in the school.

"Really this news came as a total shock to his principal, to the kids in his class, to the parents and to his neighbors," Patten said. "There's no evidence that he has ever acted out anything inappropriate toward children."

The child pornography allegations came to light when watchdogs for Google observed someone uploading images of child pornography on May 10 and May 25, according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court. A report was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who determined the IP address came from Spanish Fork, the report states. The Utah County Sheriff's Office was then contacted and opened an investigation.

A search warrant was served on June 10. Greene was in Texas at the time, however. Lewisville, Texas police contacted Greene for Utah authorities, seized his cellphone and tablet, and mailed them back to authorities in Utah County, the affidavit states.

"Lewisville conducted an interview of Greene, who admitted to viewing images of child pornography," deputies wrote in the affidavit.

As of Tuesday, no criminal charges have been filed against Greene. The Alpine District placed Greene on administrative leave on Monday.

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