Phoenixville teacher charged with child porn possession

A special education teacher at Phoenixville Area Middle School has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

State police arrested Kenneth Ford Hamilton Jr. on Sunday after a six-week investigation, they said.

Hamilton, 58, of Phoenixville, was arraigned before District Judge Harry Farmer and held on $250,000 bail.

In a statement released Monday, the school district said officials learned of the arrest through news reports.

"At this time, the district has not received any official notification from authorities regarding those charges," the statement said. "The district will, of course, cooperate fully with any investigation into these allegations, if requested to do so."

Hamilton graduated from William Penn High School in New Castle, Del., in 1973 and spent 25 years in the hotel and restaurant field before going to college, according to the profile posted on his school district Web page.

He was hired to teach in the Phoenixville schools after graduating in December 2001 from West Chester University. He holds certifications in special education and middle school math, social studies, language arts, and science.

Hamilton's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday before Judge Theodore P. Michaels in Phoenixville.

His arrest comes a little more than a month after the former principal of Phoenixville Area Middle School was sentenced to jail for possession of child pornography.

Troy Czukoski, 43, of Exton, was sentenced to 24 months in prison on Nov. 7. He worked at Phoenixville until 2012 but was principal of Springton Lake Middle School in the Rose Tree Media School District when arrested.