FBI arrests Navasota High School teacher for allegedly possessing, distributing child pornography

NAVASOTA, Texas (KBTX) - The Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested a Navasota High School teacher Thursday, on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Navasota ISD Superintendent Stu Musick told KBTX Byrd had been an employee of the district for the last four years. Byrd is currently on administrative leave.

According to a criminal complaint, Daniel Jonathan Byrd used Kik and Telegram to view and download child pornography. Byrd first came to the attention of law enforcement upon the discovery of a folder shared in a Kik chat group. Byrd was allegedly in control of the folder.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Byrd used Kik and Telegram to view and download child pornography.

If convicted, Byrd faces up to 30 years in prison, 20 years for the distribution charge and 10 years for the possession charge.

Navasota ISD released the following statement after his arrest Thursday:

“This morning, Navasota ISD was notified by local law enforcement of an investigation of a current Navasota ISD employee. The staff member was not at work today, but has been immediately placed on administrative leave, pending further investigation by law enforcement and the school district.

The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority, and we take all allegations of misconduct very seriously. We cannot provide any details at this time as the investigation is ongoing, but we want to assure our community that we are cooperating fully with law enforcement to determine the facts of this matter.

At this point in the investigation, Navasota ISD has no reason to believe that any students or other staff members have been involved and that this may be an investigation into personal matters. However, we will continue to cooperate fully with authorities throughout further investigation.”