A Cool school aide who worked with children and adults with autism faces multiple felony charges for alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.
Stefan Schiopu, 28, of Cool was arrested Thursday, Oct. 1, by detectives with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, the agency said in a press release. He is being held in county jail without bail.
The investigation began after the High-Tech Crimes Unit received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), according to CBS Sacramento. Detectives, who are affiliated with the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, identified Schiopu as the suspect on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and arrested him the following morning, Fox 40 reported.
The sheriff's office said the investigation included the service of multiple search warrants. Through that work, detectives learned Schiopu was employed as a paraprofessional aide at a local nonprofit school, where he worked directly with children and adults with autism. The name of the school has not been publicly released.
On Oct. 1, detectives served additional search warrants and located evidence leading them to believe there may be an additional unidentified minor who may have been victimized by Schiopu, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office said Schiopu is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
The specific felony charges have not been publicly listed. No arraignment date has been announced.
The High-Tech Crimes Unit is a two-person detective team that investigates technology-related crimes in El Dorado County. A February 2025 El Dorado County Grand Jury report found the unit receives roughly 200 leads per year from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force network.
Anyone with information about Schiopu or the investigation can contact Detective Aaron Cuddeback with the High-Tech Crimes Unit at 530-642-4724.
