Johns Hopkins University officials said they have been informed by federal and local authorities that a former substitute teacher of a day care affiliated with the school was under investigation for distributing child sex abuse materials.

The FBI and Baltimore Police are investigating Simone Avery, a former substitute teacher at Homewood Early Learning Center, according to Hopkins and Downtown Baltimore Child Care officials. The day care operator and university were notified over the weekend, officials said.

Avery, 23, was a substitute teacher at Homewood Early Learning Center from June 2023 to May 2024, officials said. The day care is open to infants 10 weeks old to kids of preschool age and is owned by Hopkins and managed by Downtown Baltimore Child Care. Avery passed federal and state background checks before and during her employment, officials said.

Online court documents show Avery was accused of child sex abuse material distribution in July 2024, a couple of months after leaving her role at the day care. Avery was convicted last year of distributing child sex abuse materials and is currently incarcerated.

“This is a terrible violation of trust and an affront to the safety of our most vulnerable — the children of our faculty, staff, students, and neighbors,” Branville Bard, Hopkins’ vice president for public safety, said in an email to community members. “We are here to support anyone needing help during this time, including those who are not directly involved.”

Kik, an online instant messenger app, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August 2024 that a user located in Baltimore was distributing child sex abuse materials on the platform, court documents show. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the Baltimore Police Department, sharing 35 files of child sex abuse materials, according to court documents.

A month later, police received another tip, with 51 files of child sex abuse material, from Kik and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Detectives traced the Kik user sharing this content to a home in the 300 block of East 30th Street in November 2024, court documents read.

In May 2025, police searched the home where Avery and six other adults were living. As officers searched the home, the seven adults sat in the living room, according to charging documents. That’s when Avery asked to go to the bathroom, court documents read.

While escorting her to the bathroom, police say Avery asked them: “If someone was to come forward, would this be nipped in the bud?” When police said yes, Avery confessed, charging documents show.

“It’s me, I was on TOR,” Avery said. TOR stands for The Onion Router, an anonymous web browsing software. “I would never actually hurt a kid.”

In an interview with detectives, Avery admitted to having around 6,000 child sex abuse materials and that she had been on Kik exchanging videos with other users, according to police. She was arrested and pleaded guilty last year; she is currently serving a two-year sentence. Her attorney, Christopher O’Meara, could not immediately be reached for comment.

“This is incredibly difficult and distressing news. We have many unanswered questions,” officials at Downtown Baltimore Child Care said in a news release. “The safety and well-being of the children entrusted to our care is always our highest priority. We are working with law enforcement to understand more of what has occurred and will cooperate with any investigation that arises from this information.”

FBI officials said in an email they are working with Baltimore Police on an ongoing investigation into crimes against children but could not share further details. Baltimore Police confirmed a joint investigation into a former child care employee who is incarcerated.

Hopkins and Downtown Baltimore Child Care said investigators told them they’d notified victim families but hadn’t identified any at Homewood Early Learning Center.

Located in the 200 block of Wyman Park Drive on Hopkins’ campus, Homewood Early Learning Center is a day care for community members as well as Hopkins faculty, staff, graduate students and other employees.

Hopkins asked anyone with information about the matter to contact the FBI’s Baltimore field office at 410-265-8080 or submit information to tips.fbi.gov.

This story has been updated with the correct ages of the students served at Homewood Early Learning Center.