Massachusetts State Police have confirmed that a 67-year-old after-school instructor, John Buffington, died by suicide at his home in Princeton on January 8. The incident occurred as police served a search warrant at the residence to investigate child pornography allegations.
Buffington was an after-school teacher with experience working in both Princeton and Lincoln, where he taught various skills such as woodworking, primitive skills, and kite-making. According to State Police, officers from the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Task Force and local law enforcement agencies attempted to serve the search warrant at Buffington's home.
However, when police announced their presence, Buffington fled into a garage, where he was found deceased by apparent suicide. The investigation revealed evidence of child abuse material, including explicit photographs of a child who had previously interacted with Buffington.
State Police stated that while the investigation is ongoing, there is currently no indication that any child harmed by Buffington has been identified. As part of the investigation, local authorities are working together to gather more information about Buffington's involvement in the alleged child pornography case.
The Children's Advocacy Center of Worcester County has issued a statement advising families who had interacted with Buffington while he was teaching in Princeton to contact them for support and guidance.
Buffington was an after-school teacher with experience working in both Princeton and Lincoln, where he taught various skills such as woodworking, primitive skills, and kite-making. According to State Police, officers from the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Task Force and local law enforcement agencies attempted to serve the search warrant at Buffington's home.
However, when police announced their presence, Buffington fled into a garage, where he was found deceased by apparent suicide. The investigation revealed evidence of child abuse material, including explicit photographs of a child who had previously interacted with Buffington.
State Police stated that while the investigation is ongoing, there is currently no indication that any child harmed by Buffington has been identified. As part of the investigation, local authorities are working together to gather more information about Buffington's involvement in the alleged child pornography case.
The Children's Advocacy Center of Worcester County has issued a statement advising families who had interacted with Buffington while he was teaching in Princeton to contact them for support and guidance.
this is so sad, what happened is just horrific 
a good guy turns out to be a monster, can't believe it... 
my kid has a friend whose dad teaches woodworking at the same school where John Buffington used to teach, still can't process that one of their teachers was involved in something like this 
I hope they take care of themselves and the families who were affected by John's actions 
just saw this sad news... a teacher, who seemed like a cool dude, teaching kids stuff like woodworking and kite-making, ended up being involved in some really dark stuff 
️. it's crazy how sometimes you don't know what's going on behind closed doors, right? 
️
, the kids he taught... they deserve to know what happened 
. and yeah, the authorities are doing their thing 
, but it's gonna take time 
.
like, we need to make sure our teachers and mentors have each other's backs... or at least report any weird behavior 
. just some food for thought... 
... I mean, you'd think that if the cops were serving a search warrant over some alleged child porn, they could've handled it way better than this. I'm all for keeping our communities safe, but can't we find a way to do it without putting innocent people in harm's way? 
. The Children's Advocacy Center should really be doing more to support these families, in my opinion 
. It's just too late for John Buffington now 
.
, but at the same time, we also need to question how someone like buffington was able to be around kids without being noticed or reported earlier 
. As a parent, it's our worst nightmare come true - a trusted adult in harm's way of children. I just hope that everyone involved gets the support they need right now 
.
. But can we really talk about the lack of support systems for ppl who've been in situations like this? 
, I mean what even is the point of having laws against child abuse when people like John Buffington still manage to get caught up in it? 
the fact that there are organizations like the children's advocacy center offering support to families is just amazing 
wooden kites and whatnot. I bet those kids had no idea they were dealing with a creep the whole time 
. What really gets me is how this happened in plain sight, and it's like we're all just standing around waiting for someone else to say something before we take action