O.C. school officer held in child porn probe

A police sergeant with the Santa Ana Unified School District was arrested Friday in a child pornography investigation, authorities said.

Kendall Scott Poole, 49, was taken into custody about 9:30 a.m. at his Irvine home in the 4600 block of Roxbury Drive, according to Lt. Rick Handfield, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department. He would not say how Poole came to investigators’ attention and provided few other details.

A statement released Friday by Santa Ana Unified described Poole as a “school police sergeant” employed by the district for seven years, most recently as a night supervisor at the district office. His arrest, the statement said, was for alleged “misconduct in his personal life.”

District officials said they placed Poole on administrative leave without pay, effective immediately, pending the outcome of the investigation. They also assured parents, teachers and staff that Poole’s arrest “has no effect on the safety of students.”