Former LEAP staff member John Buffington died by suicide on Thursday, Jan. 8 as he was being served a search warrant for possession of child pornography at his home in Princeton, Mass.
Buffington, 67, was an after-school instructor for the Princeton Parks and Recreation Department, where he taught woodworking, primitive skills, and kite-making, the Massachusetts State Police said in a January 9 press release. Following tips that came in from an electronic service provider to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the state police Cyber Crime Unit and other law enforcement officers secured a search warrant through Worcester District Court to search Buffington’s residence for evidence of child sexual abuse material. As officers announced themselves at the door, he fled into a garage, where he apparently shot himself.
Upon entering Buffington’s home, law enforcement officers found evidence of child sexual abuse material. “Officers additionally located sexually explicit material that involved pictures of at least one child who was known to the suspect,” the state police release said. While the investigation is in its preliminary stages, “there is no apparent evidence that any child he encountered has been harmed.”
In a search of Buffington’s basement, law enforcement found “mannequin-like figures hanging by chains from his basement ceiling… with pictures of children’s faces… over the faces of those figures,” according to WCVB-TV report. Princeton police said Buffington moved to town in 2009, had no criminal record, and did have a license to carry a firearm, WCVB said.
Buffington, known at LEAP as Johnny, worked for LEAP (the Lincoln Extended-day After-school Program) from September 1988 until March 2014, according to a press release from town officials.
County and state authorities are “working diligently to identify any parties affected by Mr. Buffington in his role as a community member of trust so that they are able to receive appropriate support and services,” said the release, which was posted on LincolnTalk. Lincoln police will continue to coordinate with other state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies who are investigating the scope of Buffington’s activities and “will offer whatever support the LEAP organization and community requires.”
Questions or concerns should be directed to the Lincoln Police Department at 781-259-8111, and parents with concerns about their children’s interactions with Buffington can also contact the Middlesex Children’s Advocacy Center at 781-897-8400.
Although it oversees after-school care for some Lincoln School children, LEAP is a private nonprofit organization. It was housed in one of the Hartwell pods until the pods were torn down last summer to make way for the new community center.
The Lincoln press release was signed by Superintendent of Schools Parry Graham, Town Administrator Timothy Higgins, Acting Police Chief Jon Wentworth, and Kathryn Hawkins, who has been LEAP’s director since 2013 or 2014, around the time the program was in danger of being replaced. LEAP made various programmatic improvements in 2014 before its contract with the town was renewed.
Reached by the Lincoln Squirrel on Jan. 12, Hawkins declined comment, saying, “I have been told that the statement that was sent out on Saturday should suffice.”
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