A Brookline man who teaches at Josiah Quincy Upper School is on administrative leave after his arrest, according to Boston Public Schools.
A Boston schoolteacher is facing multiple charges related to alleged sexual communications over the internet with as many as six girls between the ages of 12-17, Brookline police said Friday.
Police arrested 34-year-old John Gavin, of Brookline, early Friday morning at his condo. Photos from the scene showed a man being taken into custody by police shortly after 6 a.m., with bags of what appeared to be evidence being carried out of the building by Brookline and Boston police detectives.
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Gavin is charged with enticement of a child under the age of 16, dissemination of material harmful to minors, enticement of a child under the age of 18 to post in a state of nudity and possession of visual material of a child depicted in sexual conduct.
He was arraigned Friday in Brookline District Court and is being held on $50,000 cash bail. If released, he will be placed on a GPS monitor. He is required to stay away and have no contact with the victims. He is not allowed to leave the state and is required to surrender his passport. He cannot use social media or applications that allow for texting.
Police said Gavin is a teacher at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, and previously worked at the Hayes School in Brookline as a paraprofessional from January to August of 2020.
According to the police complaint, he had been engaging in sexual communications with girls ages 12-17 over Discord, an instant messaging platform. During some of these conversations, he allegedly disclosed that he is a schoolteacher, enticed the girls to send nude photos of themselves and sent photos of himself.
The investigation indicates the girls were located in states across the country, including Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. At this time, police said no victims have been identified from Massachusetts.
Boston Public Schools issued a statement Friday saying they completed all required employment checks, including a criminal background check and fingerprinting in addition to personal and professional references, before hiring Gavin.
"The safety and well-being of our students is always our highest priority and after learning about this arrest today, Boston Public Schools immediately placed the individual on administrative leave. According to law enforcement, the current charges are not related to BPS or BPS students," the district said. "We have communicated this information with our families and staff, and are prepared to support them. We are and will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as the investigation continues."
Brookline police said they were assisted in their investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children Squad, the Boston Police Crimes Against Children Unit and the Massachusetts State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Anyone who believes they might have been a victim of Gavin is being asked to contact Brookline police detectives at 617-730-2244.
