A teacher in a private San Francisco elementary and middle school was charged in federal court Friday with receipt of child pornography.
The charges against 33-year-old Charles Richard Barrett were announced in a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. Prosecutors did not name the school in the news release.
Prosecutors said that in June of 2020, as part of an investigation into Barrett's partner, federal agents came into possession of a computer found in Barrett's residence and established that Barrett communicated with two suspected minors in 2013 and 2014 and received sexually explicit images involving minors from them.
The news release does not state whether Barrett was a teacher at the time of the incidents and makes no claim that the boys involved were his students.
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The release offers a reminder that the charges contained in the criminal complaint are mere allegations. As in any criminal case, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Prosecutors allege that between December 2013 and February 2014, Barrett received at least nine sexually explicit images from a boy who said he was 16 years old. The images were shared via text messages in which Barrett sent explicit images of himself to the boy.
Prosecutors allege this same scenario occurred in 2013 with another boy claiming to be age 16 and a high school student in San Francisco. Barrett is alleged to have received at least four sexually explicit images from the victim.
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If convicted, Barrett faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.
