Man hired by state Children and Families department after they investigated him gets 20 years in prison

An Atlantic County man who got a job at the state Department of Children and Families despite their own findings that he spent the right with a nine-year-old student has been sentenced to 250 months in a federal prison.

Kayan Frazier, 29, pleaded guilty in February to one count of producing child pornography while working as a substitute teacher in Atlantic City.

Frazier worked for the state from October 2017 until April 2019, when the Atlantic County Prosecutor charged him with unlawful possession of child pornography. Federal charges for receiving, distributing and producing child pornography came three months later.

The state has never publicly addressed how Frazier got through his background check.

While executing a search warrant in April 2019, county authorities found an underage boy in his home and thousands of images depicting child sexual abuse on his cellphone and other devices. The pictures included ones of the boy, which were taken in Frazier’s apartment.

Frazier’s guilty plea will earn him up to 30 years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000. He’s due to be sentenced on June 8. He’s been in detention since his arrest on July 12, 2019.

It’s not clear how he wound up with a $56,088-a-year job at the Department of Children and Families so soon after being the subject of a department investigation. Caseworkers are supposed to undergo background checks.

He was hired during former Gov. Chris Christie’s tenure.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Rodriguez also sentenced Frazier to a lifetime term of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig credited the FBI Human Trafficking Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Atlantic County Sheriff’s office for helping with the investigation.