A Prince George secondary school teacher has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.
While police have not said the amount or type of pornography, officials said that Michael Gardiner, 60, was arrested Friday.
"The school district considers this to be a particularly grave matter," said Prince George School Board superintendent Brian Pepper.
Gardiner has been an English teacher for a number of years at Prince George Secondary. He was in court Monday and released on a number of strict conditions.
Of concern to the community was the fact that Gardiner is a teacher -- and his alleged victims are children.
Police also say that this is troubling for them and they're working to determine if any of the images found by police are of local kids.
"We do know where he works and this is a concern for us," said RCMP Const. Gary Godwin.
"We're doing an ongoing investigation at this point and going through all the images that were found in his computer," he said.
School district officials say this is not something that should happen and it's taking the charges seriously, including removing Gardiner from the school and working closely with the RCMP.
"Our primary concern was the safety of our students," Pepper told CTV News. "I can let you know he was arrested Friday and has not been at work."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart
