Teacher at Christian school found with child sex abuse material, Florida cops say

A Tampa-area teacher is accused of possessing child sex abuse material and is being held on a fugitive warrant, Florida deputies say.

Tyrone Cliff, 38, was working as a middle school teacher at Bayshore Christian School when Florida deputies were contacted by law enforcement in Washington, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and jail records.

Washington officials said they received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August that a device at a residence in Spokane had downloaded material showing child sexual abuse, according to the FDLE.

The address of the device was identified as Cliff’s previous residence, officials said.

“After further investigation by the Spokane Police Department and the FDLE, agents determined that Cliff recently moved from Spokane to Ruskin, Florida,” according to officials.

Before living in Spokane, Cliff had opened a martial arts studio in Tampa in 2015, officials said.

Cliff was arrested Oct. 28 on an “out-of-state extradition warrant with seven first-degree felony charges of possession of child sexual abuse material,” the FDLE said.

As of Oct. 31, Cliff’s information had been pulled from the Bayshore Christian School website where he taught math and science, and WFLA reports he was terminated by the school.

McClatchy News reached out to Bayshore Christian School and was awaiting comment.

When Cliff lived in Spokane, he taught at a “local religious school,” KXLY reports, and he was a previous student at Moody Bible Institute, according to a LinkedIn account in the same name.

Ruskin is a about a 20-mile drive south from Tampa.