Mesa high school janitor arrested, suspected of sexual exploitation of a minor

A janitor employed by Mesa Public Schools was arrested on suspicion of child pornography on Wednesday, court records show.

Steven Gardoni, 38, was arrested and being held on suspicion of two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to police.

Phoenix police received a tip on Monday from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Yahoo user in possession of child pornography. Yahoo provided 11 files found within the account deemed child pornography, court documents said.

According to court records, Phoenix police detectives reviewed the content and found that some appeared to be newly produced or homemade content.

After searching IP addresses, phone numbers and emails, police took Gardoni into custody on Wednesday.

During his post-Miranda interview with police, Gardoni said that he was "curious" about child sexual abuse material but denied having a sexual interest in it. He also said he used Telegram and his email to trade files of child sexual abuse material, court documents read.

In a police interview, Gardoni said he knew that the children appeared to be under 6 years old.

A search warrant issued on his electronics revealed that he communicated on Teleguard, an app that encrypts messages, with a person only known as "SharonM." In those messages, he told her that he found babies and pre-pubescent children sexually appealing, court records showed.

Detectives discovered Gardoni was emailing with someone whose display name was "Sharon Mable," court documents said.

Detectives spoke with Gardoni's mother, who said she is his legal guardian and that Gardoni was "diagnosed with mild mental retardation" during the interview.

Skyline High School, where Gardoni worked as a night janitor, sent out a message to families saying that he passed a background check in 2022 and that the administration was unaware of his behavior until he was arrested.

"Your child's safety is our top priority," the statement from principal Dr. Greg Mendez read. "We had no indication of inappropriate behavior until he was arrested. We will continue to follow all district protocols to ensure the safety of our students."

Gardoni is being held at a Maricopa County jail on a $150,000 bond. His next court appearance was scheduled for Nov. 14.