Allegations against teacher released
New information has been released in the arrest of Daniel Jonathan Byrd, 29, of College Station. Byrd, who was employed as a Science teacher at Navasota High School was arrested by College Station Police at his home March 23.
In a press release by the United States Attorneys’ Office Southern District of Texas Office, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said Byrd was arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography.
The criminal complaint alleges Byrd “came to the attention of law enforcement upon discovery of a folder containing child pornography shared in a Kik chat group. Byrd was allegedly in control of that folder.”
According to the complaint, Byrd used Kik and Telegram to view and download child pornography. He allegedly joined groups dedicated to sharing child pornography and would download content to his MEGA account. Byrd then posted links from his MEGA account into Kik groups, thereby allowing others to access folders containing child pornography, according to the charges.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation - Bryan Office conducted the investigation with assistance from College Station Police Department.
A press release was issued by Navasota Independent School District Thursday afternoon stating the district was notified by local law enforcement of the investigation of one of its employees. NISD Superintendent Dr. Stu Musick said the employee, who did not show up for work Thursday, was “immediately placed on administrative leave pending further investigation by law enforcement.”
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority, and we take all allegations of misconduct very seriously,” stated Musick. “We cannot provide any details at this time as the investigation is ongoing, but we want to assure our community that we are cooperating fully with law enforcement to determine the facts of this matter.”
Musick said Navasota ISD has “no reason to believe that any students or other staff members have been involved and that this may be an investigation into personal matters. However, we will continue to cooperate fully with authorities throughout further investigation.”
If convicted, Byrd faces up to 20 years for distribution of child pornography as well a maximum of 10 years for possessing it. He was to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison at 2 p.m. today.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
More details will be released as they are available.