SEFFNER, Fla. (WFLA) – A Hillsborough County school resource officer is facing charges after deputies say he pawned off his school-issued gun and other security items multiple times.

Leroy King, 36, was a school resource officer at Mango Elementary School in Seffner. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced his arrest on Friday.

According to Chronister, King’s supervisor recently stopped by Mango Elementary for a random check. During the check, Sheriff Chronister says the supervisor immediately noticed King didn’t have a firearm in his holster. The sheriff says he had a pellet gun instead.

When the supervisor started asking questions, Chronister says King started formulating “several different stories” about where his firearm was. At that point, the sheriff’s office was contacted and started investigating.

The sheriff says deputies eventually determined King pawned his firearm and other items that were assigned to him as a school security officer.

“He was charged with the duty of protecting our most valuable and precious resource – and that’s our children,” Sheriff Chronister said.

According to the sheriff, King had pawned the items at least six times since the beginning of the school year. He was arrested and charged with eight counts of providing false information to a pawnbroker.

“As a parent, I am disgusted that we have an individual that we have spent time training, that our school security system spent time hiring, with one sole purpose. And that sole purpose was protecting our young people,” Chronister said. “Who knows how many times he was assigned at Mango Elementary and never had the items that were assigned to him to protect our young people. Thank God nothing catastrophic happened while (he) was assigned to Mango Elementary.”

LATEST HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS: