Murals at San Francisco schools are being looked at more closely after the discovery of inappropriate images contained in some that were created by a local artist who was recently accused of possession of child porn, police and school officials said Friday.
Anthony Josef Norris, 46, was the founder of the nonprofit children’s art organization Kid Serve, which worked with school children to create outdoor murals at schools and other sites around the city.
Norris was arrested June 2 after an investigation by the FBI allegedly found child porn videos posted on the Internet that were traced to his home address. A search of his computer also uncovered at least 600 images of sexual exploitation of pre-pubescent children, according to the FBI.
After his arrest, San Francisco Unified School District officials discovered that at least three of the murals he created at schools and other sites around the city contained inappropriate images, district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said.
The murals are mosaics containing small tiles, and the offensive images “are imperceptible to someone who might just be looking at the mural as a whole,” Blythe said.
School officials notified San Francisco police about the images June 15, and police have collected evidence to hand over to the FBI, which is handling the child porn case, police spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.
Dangerfield said some of the questionable paintings and sketches that were part of the mural involved children, but he declined to elaborate.
Authorities are continuing to investigate whether there are more offensive images in other murals Norris created around the city.
Police Chief Greg Suhr joined other officers and school district officials at a news conference at the San Francisco Hall of Justice Friday morning to announce the information about the murals.
Norris faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if he is convicted of the federal child porn charge.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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