LAKELAND, Fla. -- A Central Florida elementary school principal was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing and creating child pornography, including pictures of a girl who attended the school last year, officials said.

John Stelmack, 60, the principal at Scott Lake Elementary School in Lakeland, was arrested at his home, located at 5749 Deer Track Trail in Lakeland, and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography.

Stelmack was suspended from his job as principal by the Polk County School Board on Dec. 14 after an administrative investigation led to the seizure of a black briefcase that contained pornographic images from his office, sheriff's deputies said.

According to a Polk County sheriff's report, Stelmack took routine photographs of children in a school setting, including a 10-year-old who attended Scott Lake Elementary last year, and digitally superimposed their faces onto nude images. The identified girl's facial image was on four of the pictures, and another unidentified female child's face was placed on the body of another nude image, the report stated.

"The photographs that Stelmack manipulated into child pornography are graphic and repulsive," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "To think that a school principal, someone who is entrusted with the safety and well-being of hundreds of school children, would do something like this is incomprehensible."

Stelmack is married and has two adult children. He came to Polk County from the New York state school system.

Detectives are serving a search warrant at his home and further charges may be filed against him depending on what is found, deputies said.

Stelmack was booked into the Polk County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said it has been conducting an investigation, which is ongoing, in cooperation with the Polk County School Board.

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