The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed a felony sexual exploitation of a child charge against a Branson elementary teacher today.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Thomas Louis Schrembi III, 39, Springfield, an ELL teacher at Cedar Ridge Intermediate School.
The probable cause statement, written by Detective D. Wammack of the Christian County Sheriff's Office is printed below:
On 9/20/21 I received a phone call from the victim’s father, who wished to report his 9-year old daughter, AS, had disclosed to him she observed her private reading tutor, Thomas L. Schembri III take a photograph of her during a tutoring session which took place at 149 East State Highway CC, Nixa, Christian County, MO.
It was further disclosed that AS was wearing a dress that day and (the victim's father) told me AS told him Thomas placed his phone beneath AS’s legs while she was sitting in a chair with her legs up and took a photograph of her underwear.
On 9/21/21 a forensic interview of AS was conducted at the Child Advocacy Center in Springfield, MO. During the course of the interview AS disclosed she had seen Thomas take a picture of her underwear.
AS stated she was sitting with her legs up and Thomas stuck his phone between her legs, under her knees, and took a picture. She stated she didn’t say anything to Thomas because she was afraid it was going to cause a problem.
AS told the interviewer the incident made her stomach “go uncomfortable." AS said she saw this out of the corner of her eyes. AS described how her stomach felt by saying it felt uncomfortable and her stomach “dropped."
She said she felt better after Thomas took the phone out. AS further described the incident by saying she was sitting cross legged and Thomas told her to put her legs down. She stated Thomas was seated to the left of her. She said she had her legs bent with her knees up. She mentioned she saw Thomas “peek” under her dress and then put his phone under her bent legs and took a picture.
On 9/23/21 I made contact with Thomas at his place of work (Cedar Ridge Intermediate School, Branson, MO). The abovementioned iPhone was in Thomas’s possession when he entered the room.
It was promptly placed in a location where Thomas did not have access to alter the contents. Thomas was visibly nervous and I could see his hands shaking. I informed Thomas as to the reason for the visit and asked him about the photograph.
Thomas denied taking a photograph. I asked Thomas if he had anything on his phone which he should not, and he stated something to the effect of he did not think so. Thomas indicated he did have about four photographs of a female “crotch” area, but stated said female was of age.
He mentioned he thought the photographs were sent to him about a month ago. Thomas denied consent to search the cell phone, which was subsequently seized as evidence. He also requested a lawyer and all questioning ceased.
On 9/23/21 at about 1442 hours I made phone contact with the victim’s father and asked him to describe what AS was wearing on the day the incident occurred. I was advised AS was wearing what he believed to be a red dress and brown panties with polka-dots.
A search warrant was issued and the phone was taken to Springfield and was forensically downloaded by Springfield Police Department staff. At about 1923 hours I received a phone call from Springfield Police Department staff stating he had located three images.
These images were collected and observed to match the description given to me by AS regarding her body position, as well as matching the description of her panties and were of the “crotch” style Thomas stated we would find.
The images were taken on 9/19/2021 at about 1109 hours. The timeframe the images were taken falls within the timeframe of AS’s tutoring lessons, which her father stated were from 1000 hours to 1130 hours.
I believe, if released, Thomas would pose a threat to the community, specifically children. Thomas is/was employed in a profession which brings him in to contact with children on a regular, if not daily basis.
The images taken by Thomas are predatory in nature, and it is typical for child predators to have more than one victim. A complete download of Thomas’s phone has not been achieved yet, and it is unknown if further images exist
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