Covina Teacher Indicted On Multiple Child Pornography Charges

COVINA (CBSLA.com) — A teacher at Royal Oak Middle School arrested on suspicion of distributing child pornography was indicted Tuesday on multiple federal charges.

Forty-nine-year-old John David Boyle, of Glendora, was taken into custody June 5 after he met an undercover operative to view child porn in his classroom, Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said in a statement at the time.

Federal prosecutors say the eighth-grade teacher was indicted on six charges, including enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity over the internet, leading to the molestation of a 14-year-old boy.

He was also indicted on charges of advertising child pornography on the internet and distribution, receipt, attempted receipt and possession of child pornography.

Boyle was not arrested when undercover officers entered the classroom at the time of the sting but permitted officials to take over several of his online accounts.

Prosecutors say they uncovered evidence Boyle may have distributed pornography through an email account, and may have also had contact with minors on Skype and through text messaging.

Trutanich pointed to a text that appeared to be between the teacher and a schoolboy in which Boyle allegedly asks him to "cut school".

Boyle allegedly referred to the same child in another text to the undercover agent, writing that he "hooked up with a boy six weeks ago", prosecutors said.

Boyle's attorney, Anthony Solis, dismissed the allegations as "innocuous".

"This is not some pedophile grooming a potential target for a sexual assault," Solis said during a bond hearing, adding that the texts illustrated an "element of fantasy".

Boyle's arraignment is scheduled for July 11.  U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Hillman is presiding over the case.

Boyle faces life in prison if convicted.

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