A Chula Vista Elementary School District teacher was rearrested on new charges in connection with molesting a former student.
John Raymond Kinloch, 41, was arrested by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement on Dec. 5 and is being held in the South Bay detention facility.
The 12 charges include lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, and one count of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor.
The district scheduled a news conference Dec. 6 to discuss the new charges.
“Our hearts go out to the child,” Superintendent Dr. Francisco Escobedo, said. “The allegations raised in the charges against Kinloch are appalling. For a teacher to betray a child in this manner is very upsetting. We are very dismayed by this.”
It was when Kinloch was a teacher at Feaster Charter School that he began the inappropriate relationship with a student, according to district spokesman Anthony Millican.
“This is a very serious development in the case and we’re obviously upset and concerned about it,” Millican said, adding he was shocked that the prior case wasn’t included in the background check.
Kinloch had been a first grade teacher at Wolf Canyon Elementary School and has been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice.
“Our superintendent will be meeting with the parents of the current students in this years’ class,” Millican said. “The former Feaster students are already in middle school and late high school so it will take a little bit of time to reach out to them.”
Millican said his past should have been a red flag.
“As part of our investigation we requested that our legal counsel determine how this individual’s background check failed to include any reference to the international incident of 1998,” Millican said. “If the district had had knowledge of this incident he would not have been eligible for employment.”
In 1999 when Kinloch was hired in the district, he passed required background checks, which included the FBI, California Department of Justice and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
“We will continue to work with the CTC to provide that agency more practical tips in credentialed processing,” Millican said.
Wolf Canyon Principal Debra McLaren sent a parent letter out on Nov. 30 informing them of the news and on Dec. 3 the district held a meeting at the school.
Kinloch was first arrested Nov. 30 and booked into custody by investigators from the San Diego Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force at his home on charges including posing as a child and luring children online and possession of child pornography.
The initial charges stemmed from a 1990s case in Staffordshire, England, in which Kinloch was a person of interest, but in exchange for testifying against an acquaintance accused of trafficking child porn on the Internet, received immunity from any charges himself.
While a history major at San Diego State University in 1998, Kinloch met Christopher Wrigley online and exchanged nude photos of minors.
During Kinloch’s testimony in England he stated that he was homosexual and attracted to teenage boys and minors.
The Task Force received cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to information from the San Diego Police Department.
Based on these tips, investigators identified several incidents of what appeared to be juveniles exposing themselves during live one-to-one webcam interactions.
Further investigation revealed that Kinloch had created profiles as young girls on MeetMe, formally known as MyYearbook, and solicited young boys to send their naked photographs to him.
Kinloch’s bail was set at $1.9 million. His next court date is Jan. 8 at the South Bay Courthouse.
The task force suggests parents take precautions; monitor their children’s Internet use and talk about what’s appropriate to post on the Internet and keep access in an open, common room.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at (858) 715-7100 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
