BROOKLINE, MA - A native of the Boston suburb of Brookline who is employed by the Boston school system as a teacher has been arrested in connection with sending nude photos to teenage girls via social media in a crime that spanned at least six different states, Fox 25 in Boston reports.
The Brookline Police Department reports that John Gavin, 34, of Brookline, was charged with enticement of a child under 16, dissemination of material harmful to minors, enticement of a child under the age of 18 to pose in a state of nudity, and possession of visual material of a child depicted in sexual conduct.
Gavin is a teacher at the Josiah Quincy Upper School and is accused of engaging in sexual communications with girls between the ages of 12 and 17 in Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, authorities said.
“It is alleged that during some of these conversations, Gavin disclosed that he is a school teacher, enticed the girls to send nude photos of themselves, and sent photos of himself,” Brookline police said in a news release.
The Boston Public Schools (BPS) issued a statement and confirmed Gavin was “immediately placed…on administrative leave.”
A district spokesperson said the “safety and well-being of our students is always our highest priority” and told school families that Gavin’s charges “are not related to BPS or BPS students.”
Gavin previously worked as a paraprofessional at the Hayes School from January to August 2020, police said.
He was arraigned in Brookline District Court and ordered held on a $50,000 bond.
Authorities said that if Gavin is able to post bail, he will be placed on GPS monitoring with a restriction on the area around the Josiah Quincy School. He will also be required to remain in Massachusetts, surrender his passport, and refrain from using social media or apps that allow messaging or texting, such as Discord, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and TikTok.
The Boston Herald reported that Gavin worked at the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Hyde Park in August 2022. According to the school’s Executive Director, Farida Mama Graham, in a letter to parents, he passed all background checks.
She added that the school’s records “also show no complaints were ever filed by parents, students, or staff against this teacher during his time of employment.” He resigned last August before taking his current position.
“Incidents like these provide an opportunity to remind your children of the dangers of engaging in online chat rooms and other interactive platforms,” Graham wrote, “and to encourage them to speak up if they receive inappropriate communications from an adult.
“We know this is a shock to our close-knit community,” she wrote.
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