SMYRNA — Former Pace Academy fine arts teacher William Joseph Villemez, 30, of Smyrna, was arraigned Friday in federal court on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Justin S. Anand presided over the proceedings, which took place in Atlanta at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

“Child pornography exploits the most innocent and vulnerable members of society,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement. “It is particularly disturbing that a teacher is charged with purchasing and downloading sexually explicit images of children.”

The middle- and upper-school teacher was arrested Oct. 29 and indicted by a federal grand jury Nov. 27.

Villemez remains out on a $40,000 bond.

Pace Academy Head of School Fred Assaf told parents in an Oct. 29 letter sent home with students that Villemez no longer worked at the Buckhead school but did not have a criminal record and there was no evidence of “inappropriate physical conduct” with any of his drama and dance students.

Villemez is accused of ordering $750 worth of child pornography and child erotica DVDs from a website based outside the U.S., which mailed the products to him.

“The charges in this case are like so many other investigations by postal inspectors, where a child was sexually abused and then the images of the abused were shared over and over again,” Keith Morris, head of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Atlanta division, said in a statement. “Sadly, each person viewing those images is responsible for further victimizing that child.”

A 10-page criminal complaint filed Oct. 29 said Pace’s network was used to order some of the DVDS, but none were mailed to the school.

The post office is investigating the case with help from the Cobb County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s child exploitation and computer crimes units.

When a search warrant was executed at Villemez’s home in October, agents discovered downloaded child pornography on his computer.

The charge of receiving child pornography carries a sentence of between five and 30 years in prison, while possession carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. Both charges carry fines of up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Paul R. Jones and Brent A. Gray are the prosecutors.