A grand jury indicted a former Isle of Wight Academy teacher accused of possessing child pornography.

Zachary Hinz, 37, was arrested at IWA on Dec. 12 as a result of an investigation the Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office conducted in coordination with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a nationwide network of more than 5,400 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The Southern Virginia ICAC Task Force, of which Isle of Wight is a member, was one of the first 10 ICAC task forces and has over 150 members spanning southwest Virginia to the Delmarva Peninsula and the Eastern Shore.

According to court records, the Isle of Wight County grand jury returned a “true bill” on May 9, meaning they found probable cause based on the prosecution’s evidence to support three felony counts of possession with intent to distribute.

Hinz is scheduled to be arraigned May 21, when he’ll enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest to each charge.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a new release the day of Hinz’s arrest that the evidence at the time indicated no students at IWA were harmed or exploited, and no images of children attending IWA were in Hinz’s possession.

The criminal complaint states the investigation began when a Richmond City Police Department detective notified the Sheriff’s Office that an account with the screen name “97zaddy” on the social media messenger app Kik had uploaded three images police say depict juvenile males engaged in sexual conduct. The criminal complaint claims police were able to trace the account to an email address and IP address associated with Hinz.

According to court records, Hinz allegedly confessed to possessing between 10 and 60 images of child pornography on his cellphone but denied uploading the images.

Circuit Court Judge William Savage III, on Jan. 8, overturned Magistrate Judge Alanna Rawls’ Dec. 12 order granting Hinz a $10,000 bond, which had been conditioned on his wearing an electronic monitoring device, having no access to the internet and no contact with minors. Hinz remains in custody at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail, according to jail records.

He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, and up to a maximum of 20 years, on each charge if convicted.