Affidavit: Ex-wife alerted police to Ellicott teacher’s child porn

We’re learning more about the arrest of an Ellicott High School teacher for downloading child porn Tuesday, and court documents say the teacher’s ex-wife first alerted police to the crime.

Patrick McMahon, 28, was arrested Monday. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a class-four felony sexual exploitation of a child charge.

According to an arrest affidavit, McMahon’s ex-wife contacted police in November and said she had witnessed McMahon looking at child porn around 2015 or 2016.

The affidavit says she finally came forward after learning that McMahon was working around children and had started coaching a soccer team. The ex-wife also alleged that McMahon had forcefully sexually assaulted her twice while in college together, though those incidents were never reported to police.

McMahon’s ex-wife said he gave her an old MacBook laptop after he “wiped the drive,” but she was concerned that there might still be illegal materials on the hard drive. The laptop was analyzed by the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Digital Forensics Unit.

After getting a search warrant, a detective looked at the evidence report from the laptop analysis and found at least 36 images of child porn. None of the victims appeared to be local, according to the affidavit.

Investigators also reached out to the Ellicott School District after learning McMahon was a science teacher at the high school. A school resource officer said he had been approached by two female students who alleged that McMahon “had a habit of leaning over female students from behind while they sat at their desks” and made them feel uncomfortable by standing too close to them.

The school resource officer also said he personally witnessed McMahon “violating the personal space of a female staff member at Ellicott High School.”

Authorities met with McMahon for an interview Monday morning and McMahon admitted to downloading child porn and pleasing himself sexually with the images. McMahon said he had used that MacBook to download items from 2008 to 2011. He said police would “likely find more images on his cellular telephone and his desktop computer at home,” according to the affidavit.

McMahon is still being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center with no bond.