Douglas Rottiera, a computer technician with the El Paso Independent School District, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Homeland Security agents, confirmed a spokeswoman for the agency.

A search warrant was executed on the 10000 block of Tourmaline Street in northeast El Paso.

Rottier was charged with possession of child pornography, jail records indicated.
Homeland Security investigations agents seized multiple computers and media storage devices from his home.

KFOX14 was at Rottier's initial hearing that took place at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday. He said his wife is in the hospital because of this whole situation and his main concern is her condition. Rottier said he'd hire his own attorney but when he discussed his finances with the judge, it didn't seem probable.

A district official confirmed that Rottier works for them. Rottier is a computer technician that works at the district's central office. They want to reassure the public that Rottier never worked directly with students. They also said they don't believe any students were harmed.

Rottier has been employed with them since October 2000.

District officials said they suspended him without pay until an outcome of the ongoing investigation is revealed.

Federal agents seized multiple computers and several items of media storage.

The EPISD spokesperson, Renee de Santos, said the district's police department is working closely with their federal counterparts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rottier can face up to 15 years in federal prison and $250,000 fine if convicted. A preliminary hearing will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

If Rottier doesn't have an attorney by then, this process will be delayed.