A Vancouver man who worked as a certified behavior technician at a local autism therapy center pleaded not guilty Tuesday to possession of child pornography charges.
Sean T. Saito, 24, was arraigned in Clark County Superior County on five counts of first-degree possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Court records from the arraignment say Saito appeared for the hearing in the custody of law enforcement.
Superior Court Judge Gregory Gonzales scheduled Saito’s trial for July 2, court records show.
Saito had worked at the Center for Autism & Related Disorders in Vancouver for about 1½ years, court records state. He has denied ever touching a child, according to court records.
A probable cause affidavit says Saito’s fiancée contacted Vancouver police April 21 after finding a thumb drive in a nightstand belonging to Saito. She said she was looking for her résumé files but instead found what she suspected to be child pornography on the thumb drive.
Saito subsequently told investigators the thumb drive was his, and he’d been looking at child pornography for a number of years, according to the probable cause affidavit.
