Former north Texas high school teacher arrested on a federal child pornography charge to remain in federal custody

FORT WORTH, Texas — A U.S. Magistrate judge ordered Wednesday that a former north Texas high school teacher who was arrested last week must remain in federal custody while his case remains pending.

Gregory Bogomol, 38, of Fort Worth, was arrested May 15 by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on a federal criminal complaint charging him with possessing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas announced this arrest.

According to the complaint, Bogomol was employed by the Denton Independent School District as a teacher at Denton High School. He resigned from that position the week before his arrest.

This investigation began when HSI was contacted by the parents of a 15-year-old male victim (MV) regarding an individual who solicited a nude photograph of the MV through a smartphone application. The investigation revealed that an individual, later identified as Bogomol, posing as a young female, "Crystal Williams," had contacted MV. Their communication quickly turned sexual in nature. Bogomol sent nude images of a young female to MV, and he requested nude images of MV in return. MV sent one sexually explicit photograph of himself, but Bogomol requested another picture of MV's nude body, including his face. MV declined to send any additional photos. Bogomol threatened to send the one photo that MV had sent to him to MV's friends if he did not comply. MV still refused to send another photo, and he ended all communication with Bogomol. MV advised his parents, which led to the investigation.

On May 6, HSI special agents conducted a consensual interview with Bogomol at his residence. Two days later, a search warrant was obtained to search Bogomol's cell phone and several files containing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were located.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The maximum statutory penalty for the offense as charged is 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. The government has 30 days to present the case to a federal grand jury for indictment.

Anyone who may have been victimized in this case is asked to contact HSI at its toll-free number: 1-866-347-2423.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem, Northern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.