CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF
DEAVON DELANCEY
MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls Independent School District officials have tightened security policies and launched facility monitoring procedures in the wake of a child pornography investigation involving a former technology department employee accused of collecting images of students in private areas at two campuses.
The alleged incidents were said to have taken place at Marble Falls High School and Marble Falls Middle School, according to school officials.
MFISD administrators fired 31-year-old Deavon DeLancey of Cottonwood Shores on June 5, the day Texas Rangers arrested and charged him with aggravated sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography.
DeLancey remains in the Burnet County Jail with two bonds totaling $1.1 million.
“We found out (June 5) and took immediate action, dismissing him as an employee and going through campus by campus with law enforcement to ensure that our facilities were safe,” MFISD Superintendent Rob O’Connor said. “We know what to look for because the employee had confessed to having placed certain devices in certain areas, primarily on the secondary, middle school and high school campuses.
“Moving forward, we will have a heightened awareness about private areas and making sure we monitor those areas very closely,” he added. “Unfortunately, we know what to look for so those area will be spot-checked on an ongoing basis.”
Authorities found no devices on campus; however, they are sifting through images from DeLancey’s school computer as well as his personal computer and devices as the investigation continues, officials said.
The investigation into DeLancey started several months ago when Cottonwood Shores police received a report of inappropriate images on a private computer.
The local agency referred the case to the Texas Rangers, who found video of what the probable cause affidavit described as Delancey molesting a 4-year-old girl — the origin of the aggravated sexual assault of a child charge.
“The aggravated sexual assault did not occur on any of our campuses. It was a charge that was brought about by his behavior off district property,” O’Connor said.
Another component of the investigation involves the allegation of images collected at school facilities, according to a statement from the school district.
O’Connor said no district technology equipment was used to gather images.
“He did work in the technology department, but that was the extent of district technology being involved in this issue. … The employee in question was using his own personal devices to engage in his own inappropriate behavior. It had nothing to do with district technology,” he said. “Because it was the actions of one employee, the other employees in the district are obviously concerned, and their awareness has been heightened.”
Officials added they had no reason to believe DeLancey had posed a threat to students.
DeLancey worked for the district for more than a decade. His background included serving as the chief of the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department until his resignation in January. He also is a former Cottonwood Shores city councilman, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then withdrew from a follow-up election.
Up until the arrest, he also served as a firefighter for the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department. Officials at the agency subsequently removed him from their roster.
“All employees of the district have to go through an extensive criminal background check to the extent they have to provide fingerprints. Those fingerprints get processed through a state level, national level. … Initially, it’s when they’re hired, then we do random checks on a variety of employees throughout the year,” O’Connor said. “Once they’re in that databank, we get notified if any of our employees ever get arrested.
“It does help us in that sense of tracking if any of our employees have any pending charges on them, whether it happened in our community or outside,” he added.
Jail records for DeLancey showed he was arrested in 2003, when he worked as an aide at MFISD, on a charge of injury to a child.
There were no public records found within the district clerk’s office, the county clerk’s office, family court or justice of the peace offices regarding a disposition or court proceedings related to the injury to a child charge.
School administrators will continue cooperating with law enforcement including potentially identifying students who might appear in images connected to the investigation, O’Connor said.
He added that school officials have met with principals and administrators to clarify and reinforce protocols for security and reporting issues.
“We’re not excluding any campus. We’re continuing to make sure all our campuses are safe,” O’Connor said. “It’s the last thing the employees want. They’re here to protect our kids, to safeguard our kids, so they do not want this negative light shed on the district.”
connie@thepicayune.com
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