VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A law enforcement expert told us that police are getting better at catching child predators.
This comes after a Virginia Beach Public Schools employeewas arrested earlier this week on child pornography charges.
David Crouse Jr., 56, an instructional technology specialist at Arrowhead Elementary School, was arrested Wednesday and now faces ten felony charges.
"This is just heart-wrenching," said Mona Carter, a concerned resident. "On all levels this is wrong. This should not be happening."
Court documents show the charges against Crouse are from 2019 but there aren't any further details about the case.
This isn't the only incident that a person in a position of trust has been arrested. Just last month a Newport News educator was arrested on charges involving sex crimes against children. In addition, there are 24 felony charges of child pornography against a Chesapeake police officer. Not to mention, a former State Trooper accused of killing a California family after catfishing victim's teenage daughter.
"In these positions of trust, to get involved in those illegal activities most of them, or the majority of them have never had any type of criminal charges or any criminal offenses," said Rick James, retired detective, and retired Norfolk police officer.
James said it's not that are more cases; police are better at catching criminals.
"The law enforcement community has been keeping up with this new illegal activity using social media, the internet, and technology to make sure that we protect our most vulnerable citizens, our children from predators," said James.
Psychotherapist Dr. Sarah Williams, said there are some things that could lead people to commit child sex crimes including a history of childhood trauma, exposure to environments that lacked proper boundaries, and the tendency to see power.
When it comes to warning signs, Dr. Williams said a victim may lack friends in their own peer group or they might seek to be alone with the victim. Rage and social withdrawal are other signs, and the victim may verbalize they don't want to go where the offender might be present like school or church.
"We need to be paying more attention to our kids," Carter said. "If our kids are telling us something is wrong, we need to investigate. Being aware of your children's surroundings, being aware of your friends and your children's friends and what they're doing."
