JACKMAN – An award-winning kindergarten teacher at Forest Hills Consolidated School has been charged with possessing pornographic photographs of children.

Rob Patrick Mocarsky, 41, of Jackman was arrested Thursday. He faces two felony charges: sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of sexually explicit materials. Both charges involve children younger than 12.

Police were still working Friday to determine whether students from the Jackman area were in any of the hundreds of pornographic photographs that were found on Mocarsky’s computer, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Mocarsky appeared in Somerset County Superior Court on Friday. Judge Peter Darvin set bail at $10,000 cash or $100,000 property. Mocarsky was released from the county jail at about 7 p.m. on $10,000 cash bail.

As a condition of bail, he is prohibited from access to the Internet and from contact with children younger than 16, except his own children. Mocarsky is married and has two children, said his attorney, Robert Sandy Jr. of Waterville.

An investigation of Mocarsky began in December after a student told her mother that he had kept her in the classroom after other students left, told her to dress in a French maid’s costume and took her picture, Assistant District Attorney Brent Davis said during Friday’s court hearing.

On Dec. 8, the mother told school officials what her daughter said had happened. Mocarsky has been on paid leave since then, said John Davis, superintendent of School Administrative District 12. Mocarsky has taught at the school since 2002.

John Davis said he and Denise Plante, the assistant superintendent and school principal, talked with Mocarsky on Dec. 8 and decided to put him on leave, start an internal investigation and notify police.

During the Maine State Police investigation, Mocarsky admitted to viewing child pornography, Brent Davis said.

In court Friday, the prosecutor said the photographs on Mocarsky’s computer “in no way, shape or form could … ever be confused with anything other than child pornography.”

Mocarsky has no criminal record, Brent Davis said. Sexual exploitation of a minor carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. Possession of sexually explicit materials carries a maximum sentence of five years.

School administrators held a meeting about Mocarsky with police and about 30 parents Thursday night, then posted a statement on the school’s website.

The school will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today for parents and students who want to see a counselor, John Davis said. He encouraged people to contact him with questions.

“The first thing we want folks to know is that their children are safe. If this behavior is true, we think that it needs to be fully investigated, and until that time, Mr. Mocarsky is innocent until proven guilty. But Maine State Police have sent up a highly professional, qualified team,” he said.

Eight state police detectives and Computer Crimes Unit members searched Mocarsky’s house Thursday, McCausland said. Mocarsky was arrested and taken to the Somerset County Jail in East Madison, where he was booked at about 5 p.m.

John Davis said Mocarsky is not accused of any physical contact with students.

“They’re investigating his possession of materials, so if people are worried that he’s been touching children, that’s not an issue of the investigation,” he said.

In 2004, Mocarsky received a Milken Family Foundation Award, which came with $25,000. The national awards are given annually to outstanding teachers who offer potential for professional and policy leadership, according to the foundation.

The foundation said at the time that Mocarsky’s “kindergartners wear their costumes and play their roles beyond the classroom for older students, teachers and the principal. In some cases, Pretend Play activities extend to the community, helping students build real-world connections during visits to restaurants, supermarkets and hair salons.”

During Friday’s hearing, prosecutor Brent Davis said there were photos on Mocarsky’s computer of his students dressed in costumes.

Sandy, Mocarsky’s attorney, said Mocarsky had his students wear costumes as part of his class. “It’s not anything new,” he said. “The use of costumes is entirely innocent.”

Before he taught in Jackman, Mocarsky taught at the elementary level at Grantham Village School in Grantham, N.H. He resigned in 2001, said the superintendent, Keith Pfeifer.

Mocarsky was a teacher at Stockholm Elementary School in Stockholm, Maine, from 1991 to 1993; at Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor from 1993 to 1994; and at the Longfellow School on Great Cranberry Island from 1994 to 1995, McCausland said.

Jackman, a town of about 700 people, was stunned to hear of the charges, said Alan Duplessis, who owns the Four Seasons Restaurant in town. Duplessis said he got a dozen calls Friday from community members who wanted to know how they could help Mocarsky’s family.

 

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