After Port Royal preschool worker’s child porn charge, parents left with many questions
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated Baker had previously been charged with possession of child pornography in Colorado in 2024. Police in Telluride said he was under investigation for the offense and that his house was searched for evidence, but he had not yet been charged with a crime. The investigation remained active as of January 2026.
Following a Port Royal preschool employee’s arrest for alleged possession of child pornography, parents say they feel left in the dark by the school they trusted with their young children.
Law enforcement arrested St. Helena Island resident Brandon Scott Baker, 38, Tuesday morning on the campus of Sea Island Sprouts, which serves children ages 1 to 4. It happened as some kids were being dropped off, prompting concern from parents.
In an email sent to guardians later that day, a school staffer wrote the police response “does not involve the school” and was related to a “legal matter involving one employee.” The statement did not name Baker or detail his charges.
One father of a child at Sea Island Sprouts said he only found out about the alarming charges through a news report Wednesday. He and other parents were “not properly informed” of the situation by staff, he told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
After the news broke, staff said in another email that based on their limited information from police, “there is no indication that any children at Sea Island Sprouts were involved.”
Parents of currently enrolled children were invited to a Thursday afternoon meeting at the school to discuss the center’s operations, supervision practices and “how we are supporting children and staff during this time.”
The meeting would not focus on Baker “or the ongoing legal matter,” the email read.
The Island Packet made attempts to interview Dunkle by phone. In an emailed statement to the newspaper, Sea Island Sprouts administration said its “focus is on the well-being of the children and families we serve and on respecting the legal process for all involved.” The school declined to comment further.
How was he hired?
Parents also raised concerns about how Baker — who had been investigated on similar allegations less than two years earlier — was hired by the preschool in the first place.
In 2024, when Baker lived in Telluride, Colorado, he was investigated by local marshals for alleged possession of child pornography, according to The Telluride Times. After receiving a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Telluride police detained Baker and searched his home for evidence. He had not been charged with a crime as of January 2026, but the case remained under investigation.
Baker had been working at another local preschool in Telluride but resigned immediately when he was detained and questioned by police.
“Due to Mr. Baker’s employment in child care, it was imperative that we act quickly based on the information provided by the ICAC,” Chief Marshal Josh Comte told the paper at the time. “The school took immediate action to inform parents resulting in our release of information sooner than would have been standard in this case.”
Public records show Baker had an address in Beaufort County as early as June 2024, two months after he was detained and questioned by police in Colorado.
In its email to parents Tuesday, Sea Island Sprouts said all prospective employees take a “comprehensive, fingerprint-based background screening process” that includes background checks from the FBI and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The school also checks the child abuse and neglect registry, it said, and adheres to a “two-teacher policy” in every classroom to ensure safety.
The school also claims to “personally verify employment histories and cross-check professional references,” according to a May 2025 email from the owner that was obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Sea Island Sprouts registered as an LLC in December 2024 and began operating early the next year. It was formerly the site of The Little Brown School, another preschool that opened in 2010 and operated until at least 2022.
The new preschool is owned by Joseph Dunkle, a Port Royal native with a history of service in the area.
Dunkle served a four-year term on the Beaufort County Board of Education after his election as a write-in candidate in 2014, becoming the board’s youngest member in decades. He was unseated by challenger Tricia Fidrych in the 2018 race.
He worked and volunteered as a firefighter at departments in Beaufort, Burton and the Savannah area. Before then, Dunkle was a law enforcement officer in Hampton and Jasper counties, according to The Island News.
‘I just can’t imagine’
Emma Buckley, a Beaufort-area mother of three who came close to sending her youngest son to Sea Island Sprouts last year, expressed doubt that the school’s background checks were done properly — if at all.
Buckley said she toured the school at a “meet the teachers” event in May and briefly met Baker. When her husband called Dunkle that night with questions about Baker’s work history and whether background checks were done, she said, the owner became defensive and brought up his own history in law enforcement.
Shortly after, she received an email from Dunkle saying her husband had asked questions about Baker’s marital and parental status that were “not appropriate.” The email has been reviewed by The Island Packet. The school “would not be moving forward with enrollment” for her son, the email said.
Considering recent developments, Buckley said she’s grateful she trusted her gut.
“We’re Christians — we definitely believe that God was giving us that feeling for a reason,” she said. “I just can’t imagine how it would feel if that happened while our baby was there.”
Baker was released from jail Thursday evening after posting cash bonds totaling around $100,000. His bond conditions did not go beyond the standard orders, which prohibit him from leaving the state and require him to notify the court of any address change, an employee of the Beaufort County Clerk of Court’s office said on Friday.
He faces three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two in the third degree and one in the second degree. The charges are used for defendants accused of possessing, uploading or receiving child sexual abuse material, more commonly known as child pornography.
His case will be prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 12:43 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated Baker had previously been charged with possession of child pornography in Colorado in 2024. Police in Telluride said he was under investigation for the offense and that his house was searched for evidence, but he had not yet been charged with a crime. The investigation remained active as of January 2026.
