Elk Grove parents were not notified about volunteer’s arrest

ELK GROVE — Elk Grove Unified School District officials never told parents that a classroom volunteer at one of its elementary schools was indicted in December on a child pornography charge because, officials said, the alleged crime happened off campus and did not involve students at the school.

Christopher C. Kinney had been a volunteer at Prairie Elementary School since 2013 when he was arrested Dec. 14, 2016, in Elk Grove on suspicion of conspiracy to produce child pornography. Kinney remains in custody and is scheduled to return to a federal courtroom in June, said U.S. attorney’s officials.

In a lengthy statement responding to queries from The Bee, district spokeswoman Xanthi Pinkerton said officials received word of Kinney’s arrest from a “credible witness” and took “swift action” the same day to bar Kinney from Prairie and tell those who worked with him that he no longer had access to the school.

Parents contacted by The Bee last week outside Prairie Elementary School on Valley Hi Drive in Sacramento reacted to the news of Kinney’s December arrest with frustration. One parent said news of Kinney’s arrest had circulated among parents but that they had not heard official word from the school or district.