Virginia elementary school teacher indicted for producing child pornography
Falls Church man also charged with altering child porn photos to depict former female students
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Falls Church, Va., elementary school teacher was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday on two counts of producing child pornography, two counts of attempting to produce child pornography, receiving child pornography, and possessing modified child pornography. The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
A fourth grade Dual Language Teacher at John Adams Elementary School, Justin Coleman, 35, was arrested on April 6 on charges of receiving child pornography. According to the six-count indictment, Coleman allegedly created videos in which he caused two girls – who were unaware at the time – to engage in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also accuses Coleman of attempting to produce child pornography with seven additional unaware minor females, including two who were students of his while he worked at a summer camp in Italy in the summer of 2010.
"This disturbing case strengthens our resolve to protect our community from predators who go to great lengths to sexually exploit young children," said John Torres, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Washington, D.C. "ICE will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify child predators and bring them to justice."
"This indictment alleges a pattern of disturbing, predatory behavior toward young girls," said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "The U.S. Attorney's Office is committed to doing everything we can to safeguard our children from the urgent threat of exploitation and abuse. Identifying adults who abuse positions of trust to engage in this sexually explicit conduct is our highest priority."
Coleman is also alleged in the indictment to have adapted existing child pornographic images to depict his former minor female students from Japan and Alexandria to appear to be engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also accuses Coleman of receiving via the Internet videos and images of minor children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
If convicted, Coleman faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years for each production or attempted production charge; a maximum penalty of 10 years for the possession of modified images charge; and a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum penalty of 20 years for the receipt charge.
Anyone who may have additional leads regarding this matter should contact ICE HSI at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.
The investigation was conducted by ICE HSI, Fairfax County Police Department, and the Alexandria Police Department.
This investigation is part of Operation Predator, an ICE-led initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Individuals with information about suspected child predators are encouraged to call 1-866-DHS-2ICE. For more information, visit www.ice.gov.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators by calling at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.
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