An assistant principal at Hollenbeck Middle School in St. Charles has been placed on leave and barred from every Francis Howell School District campus after being arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography. District officials told families that Daniel Ott, who has served as an assistant principal since 2024, is prohibited from entering any school campus while the investigation continues.
Ott's arrest was first reported by Spectrum News, which noted that Francis Howell School District placed him on leave immediately following his arrest for alleged possession of child pornography. Police confirmed to the outlet that there is no indication any Hollenbeck students are involved at this time. Ott had served as one of two assistant principals at the middle school, alongside Elisabeth Baird, under principal Dr. Dan Harmon, who took over the school's leadership starting with the 2024–2025 school year, according to Francis Howell School District.
The district said its cooperation with law enforcement aims to ensure the safety of students, and a letter sent to families echoed that message directly, stating that the safety of our students is our highest priority, per the same account. Hollenbeck Middle School serves roughly 769 students across grades six through eight with a 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio, according to Niche. It is one of 23 campuses within Francis Howell School District, which serves about 17,000 students and employs more than 2,200 staff members across a 150-square-mile stretch of St. Charles County.
What Missouri Law Says About the Charges
Missouri law treats possession of child sexual abuse material with a tiered penalty structure. Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 573.037, possession of a single still image is classified as a Class D felony, while possessing more than 20 still images or any video file elevates the offense to a Class B felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, according to the Revisor of Missouri. The statute treats each individual prohibited image or video file as a separate criminal count. Allegations against Ott remain pending judicial proceedings, and no charges have been detailed publicly beyond the arrest itself.
How the District's Background-Check System Works
Missouri Revised Statutes Section 168.133 requires all public school district employees who have contact with students to pass a state fingerprint background check through the Missouri State Highway Patrol as well as an FBI background check before that contact begins. Public school personnel in Missouri are also enrolled in a state Rap Back system for ongoing criminal record monitoring. Francis Howell School District has folded employee fingerprints into the FBI's Next Generation Identification system through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site, a setup that triggers continuous automated alerts to district human resources if an active employee is arrested, eliminating reliance on periodic manual rechecks.
A District Already Under State Scrutiny
The arrest lands amid a stretch of turbulence for Francis Howell School District's administrative oversight. In December 2024, Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick issued a poor performance rating for the district following a review that cited capital bond cost escalations and safety drill noncompliance across 22 campuses, according to KSDK. That rating typically requires immediate managerial corrective action under state guidelines.
More recently, a June 2026 state audit found the district paid $229,167 in severance to an incoming superintendent who resigned before his official start date, after vetting failed to uncover contract non-renewal details from his previous employer, KSDK reported. Hoodline previously covered that no-show superintendent payout as well as the district's separate push for a $150 million facilities bond. Those episodes have kept district vetting and oversight practices under a local spotlight even before Ott's arrest.
Francis Howell School District remains the top-rated public school system in St. Charles County and ranks 13th statewide in Missouri, per Niche evaluations, with enrollment holding steady between roughly 17,100 and 17,250 students each year from 2021 through 2024. For now, district officials say Ott is barred from every campus while law enforcement's investigation proceeds, and police maintain there is no evidence tying any Hollenbeck student to the case.
