Science Camp Counselor Charged With Making Child Pornography

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: to unknowingly place their child’s safety in the hands of a sexual predator. But that’s just what happened to some San Francisco Bay Area parents.

A Santa Clara science camp counselor, who was already facing charges of possessing child pornography, is now under investigation for making and filming child porn.

Edgar Covarrubias, who was known as “papa bear” at Walden West Science Camp, is now being charged with making child pornography.

It’s unknown if he used any of his campers to make the child porn.

He is now facing seven felony counts, including committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14 and possessing more than 600 child porn videos and images, along with the manufacturing and distribution of child porn, according to SFBay.ca.

These new charges have delayed his trial, and he hasn’t been able to enter a plea yet.

However, his bail was increased from $125,000 to $200,000, and his next day in court is set for June 30.

Prosecutor David Shabaglian told ABC 7 News that police officers were combing through the child porn images to try and discover who the children are, but the process will take time.

“We are doing our best to go through all the leads we have been provided to make sure there’s no one else, and we are in the process of still doing that. It is an ongoing investigation.”

Covarrubias was arrested May 7 at the science camp after Department of Homeland Security agents notified local police he was part of a group involved in viewing child porn. Officers arrived at the camp and found child porn images on his phone and computer.

Covarrubias passed the camp’s standard background checks and had worked at numerous positions at two different camp locations since 2013.

The two-week long camp is designed for fifth and sixth graders and is run by the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

After the counselor’s arrest, the Office of Education added additional overnight shifts and reinforced its Rule of 3, where a staff member and student must always have a third person with them.

The Santa Clara Office of Education has set up a website to provide parents with updated information about the case.

Unfortunately, Covarrubias isn’t the only trusted person who could harm children. Two New Orleans Police Officers are still on the force, even after being arrested for raping a child and possessing child porn, according to the Inquisitr.

[Photo by Rob Stothard / Getty Images]