The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced a 27-year-old St. Clair resident, who had been employed as a seventh and eighth grade teacher at the St. Clair Elementary/Middle School for several years, was indicted by a federal grand jury on wednesday for receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to U.S. Atty. Peter J. Smith, the grand jury alleged Todd Evans used a computer to download and distribute images of child pornography between October and Dec. 11 of this year.The charge against Evans resulted from an investigation by special agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Schuylkill County District Attorney's Office.The investigation is continuing and includes efforts to identify victims and inform appropriate authorities, including parents and schools where it is possible to do so.If Evans is convicted of the charge, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, at least five years up to a life term is supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.Atty. Smith said this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Neighborhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.For more information about Project Safe Neighborhood, visit

www.projectsafeneighborhood.gov.