Ex-teacher charged with having child porn

Allegedly accessed images at home, on the job at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis

A former social studies teacher at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis was arrested Wednesday for possessing images of child pornography, with images accessed both at his home and at the school, police said.

Michael Hislop, 26, of Arnold, has been charged with 16 misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography, court records show. He was released on recognizance shortly after his arrest.

Hislop, who began teaching at St. Mary’s in 2022, was placed on administrative leave immediately after the school learned of the police investigation, said Christian Kendzierski, executive director of communications at the Archdiocese of Baltimore. During that leave, in February, his employment was terminated, he said, although Hislop still appeared as a teacher on the school’s website Thursday afternoon.

At the time his leave began, Hislop was up to date with child protection training, Kendzierski said.

According to charging documents, Anne Arundel Police received a tip in January from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children containing 22 files of apparent child pornography on two separate IP addresses.

After reviewing the uploaded content and issuing subpoenas to both Comcast and Verizon, detectives discovered child pornography linked to a St. Mary’s IP address in downtown Annapolis and also Hislop’s home in Arnold.

Police spokesperson Marc Limansky said that while “no images were found on school-owned devices or computers, investigators believe Hislop may have used the school’s network to conduct illegal activity related to images found on his personal devices.”

According to the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Archdiocese of Baltimore, there is no indication that anyone at the school was affected by or involved in Hislop’s actions.

On Thursday, defense attorney Peter O’Neill said his client intended to enter a not-guilty plea and declined to comment further.

Hislop is set to appear for a trial on May 14 in the Anne Arundel County District Court in Annapolis, according to the Maryland Judiciary.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Baltimore said it “is committed to protecting children. It urges anyone who has any knowledge of this occurrence or any other in relation to the abuse of minors to come forward and to report it immediately to law enforcement.”