Riverton police on Friday arrested a middle school teacher on kidnapping charges because he snuck a child he had been grooming into his classroom in a bin.
The teacher was communicating with multiple young girls over texts and emails, according to a probable cause statement. He told police he has anxiety and panic attacks so he reached out to young girls to see if they could talk him through his anxiety. He told police his ego “thrives” on validation from the girls.
He began grooming a 14-year-old girl last year. The teacher told the girl about his marriage and depression and said he loved and missed her. He took treats to her house and spent hours at her house with her. The teacher told police he wanted to have a relationship with the girl but said he knew he would have to wait six or seven years.
When the middle school the teacher worked at closed because of the pandemic, he snuck the girl into his classroom twice by putting her inside a large Sterilite bin and rolling it into the school on a dolly. He told detectives he named the bin after the girl. Police say he put a label inside that said “hope your box is comfortable.”
Police say the teacher touched the girl on her inner thigh and rubbed her leg. She was uncomfortable and afraid “something sexual was about to happen.”
Police asked for the teacher to be held without bail at the Salt Lake County Jail because he is a risk to the community.
*story by The Salt Lake Tribune
* WhitePrideHomeSchool.com