Kristopher Paul Beckstrom, 42, who teaches music at Landon Middle School, in Jacksonville, was arrested Wednesday
A middle school teacher is accused of posing as a 17-year-old boy to exchange obscene photos with underage girls.
Kristopher Paul Beckstrom, 42, who teaches music at Landon Middle School, in Jacksonville, was arrested Wednesday for producing or promoting the sexual performance by a minor and transmission of material harmful to minors.
Duval County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diana Greene confirmed that Beckstrom, who once won Teacher of the Year, had been banned from the school after the allegations came to light, News4Jax reports.
The investigation began when a teenage girl came forward on September 13, telling police she’d been chatting online with user ‘erikb20172018’ who had been sending ‘random’ requests for nude photos on Instagram and Snapchat.
The user ‘erikb20172018’ claimed to be a 17-year-old boy and his profile showed pictures of a young teen.
The married music teacher at Landon Middle School, in Jacksonville, where he was once Teacher of the Year, posed as a 17-year-old boy under the username ‘erikb20172018’ which also featured a photo a random teenager – not associated with the case
‘erikb20172018’ posted several teenage angst style messages on his Instagram
The girl said she had ignored the messages until September 10, when she said another Instagram user had messaged her, with a screenshot of the ‘erikb20172018’ profile, warning: ‘He is not who you think he is.’
The stranger told the teen that she had been messaging with ‘erikb20172018’, but became suspicious when he kept coming up with excuses not to do a live video, and noted that his photos didn’t seem to match his profile picture.
They said that when they confronted ‘erikb20172018’, he came clean and admitted he was in fact 42-year-old Kristopher Paul, a teacher at Jacksonville’s Landon Middle School who was married with children, according to the police report.
The teen who contacted the police, said that the description immediately set off alarm bells and that the stranger’s detailed description, describing the teacher as an older, heavy-set white man with a distinctive mustache, brought to mind her former teacher Beckstrom.
The investigation began when a teenage girl came forward on September 13, telling police she’d been chatting online with user ‘erikb20172018’ who had been sending ‘random’ requests for nude photos on Instagram and Snapchat (pictured is the police report)
Police brought Beckstrom in for questioning on Wednesday, and he was arrested after he acknowledged sending obscene photos to minors, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Parents of children at the middle school were horrified by the news.
‘He was a great guy and a great teacher, so this is such shocking news,’ said Brea Nelson.