A former Maryland elementary school teacher’s assistant was formally Indicted Wednesday on 270 sex charges involving minor children.
Prosecutors allege 22-year-old Deonte Carraway, of Glenarden, Maryland, filmed dozens of children engaged in sex acts with other children.
He is accused of uploading the photos and videos to share with victims on Kik, an anonymous messaging app popular with children.
Carraway’s crimes were exposed when a victim’s father found a sexually explicit image on his son’s cellphone.
The victims include three girls and 20 boys ages 9 to 13. So far, investigators have identified 14 of the victims.
The charges include sex abuse of a minor and 10 counts of felony child pornography, according to the indictment.
Among the 60 videos included in the indictment are videos of Carraway engaging in sex acts with two boys, ages 9 and 11.
The indictment alleges Carraway filmed children engaging in inappropriate acts under his direction or alone on the grounds of Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School, and at a church where he was the choir director.
Carraway worked at the school as a teacher’s assistant, and later took a volunteer position in the school library.
In a jailhouse interview with FOX 5’s Marina Marraco in February, Carraway admitted he participated in some of the videos. He said he had been raped multiple times as a boy. He understood what he did was wrong and he was sorry.
He said the incidents involving school children started out as innocent games of hide and seek, which then progressed to kissing and eventually sexual Intercourse.
Carraway reportedly enticed children on the Kik messaging app to send him graphic photos and videos of themselves engaging in sex acts alone or with other children by convincing them they were joining a private club.
He also visited several victims in their homes, after their parents asked him to babysit or tutor their children.
Carraway pleaded not guilty at a hearing in March. His lawyer claims he is intellectually deficient and functioning at an IQ level of 63.
He is being held without bond in the medical ward of the Prince George’s County jail.
Parents of the victims have brought a class action lawsuit against the Prince George’s County school board, according to NBC Washington.
