Thousands of child sex abuse material found on teacher’s electronics, prosecutors say

PROVO — Thousands of files of child sex abuse material were found on the electronic devices belonging to a Utah County junior high school teacher, according to prosecutors.

Travis Adamson, 50, of Provo, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.

At the time of the alleged offenses, Adamson was an art teacher at Oak Canyon Junior High in Lindon.

The investigation began in May 2023 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was notified that possible child sex abuse material was being downloaded. Adamson was identified, in part, because he used his Alpine School District email to download the material, according to charging documents.

Investigators contacted Adamson on Monday at the school and he allegedly admitted to having a “porn addiction” for the past six to seven years, preferring to view child sex abuse material involving middle school-aged girls, the charges state.

After he was arrested, police searched all of his electronic devices.

“Thousands of child sex abuse material files were located on (his) devices. Many of the child sex abuse material files depicted children in the same age range as (his) students,” charging documents state.

Adamson denied ever doing anything inappropriate to any of his students or children in his school, according to a police booking affidavit.

According to a statement from the Alpine School District, Adamson was placed on administrate leave following his arrest.