A fourth grade teacher at John Adams Elementary School faces child pornography charges following a federal investigation into a website peddling the illicit material. 

Authorities arrested Justin Coleman, 35, of Falls Church after executing a search warrant of his home on April 6. Coleman, a dual languages teacher, admitted downloading images and video of young girls usually between five and 12 years old during an interview with officers, police said. 

Coleman turned an external hard drive stocked with child pornography and photos of fully clothed elementary school-aged children over to police during the interview, officials said. Authorities allegedly also found several pairs of girls underwear behind his bed and a pair of panties in his pocket.

School officials have placed Coleman, an Alexandria City Public Schools employee since 2005, on administrative leave pending the outcome of the proceedings. They learned of the investigation Wednesday, said Kelly Alexander, ACPS spokeswoman.

They do not know of any prior incidents where Coleman may have acted inappropriately with his students, she said. 

We certainly werent aware of any incidents, but if there were we would have certainly taken action, Alexander said. I dont believe theyve had any complaints and obviously well have a resource team in place for students as long as they need it, especially at the start of next week.

The resource team will include counselors and psychologists available for students and parents, she said.

Officials say a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into a known child-pornography website led authorities to Colemans IP address. Federal authorities, including Homeland Security Investigations, worked with Alexandria and Fairfax County police on the case. 

Coleman is charged with receipt of child pornography. Authorities ask anyone with further information to contact ICE at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.