D.C.: Teacher Identified in Beauvoir Child Porn Case

WRC-TV
updated 5:15 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct. 15, 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27188800/

WASHINGTON - D.C. police identified an elementary school teacher suspected of possession of inappropriate photos of young boys.


Police are searching for former Beauvoir Elementary School teacher Eric Toth, 26, Detective Sgt. Morani Hines said. Toth is wanted for possession of child pornography.

In early June, Toth, who taught third-graders at Beauvoir Elementary School, was kicked off the campus at the National Cathedral in northwest Washington.

On June 12, the school notified parents in a letter that a teacher was found in possession of a school-owned camera with inappropriate pictures of a boy. Sources told that pictures of at least three other boys being touched in inappropriate ways were on a thumb drive.

It was common for Toth to tutor and baby-sit Beauvoir students, sources said. At least one of the boys photographed is believed to be a Beauvoir student, sources said.

In August, Toth's car was found in a parking garage at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A note in the car indicated that Toth was contemplating suicide and that his body would be found in a nearby lake, sources said. Investigators believe that may be a ruse, police said.

"No body has been found, and it's reasonable to believe he's still alive," Hines said.

Toth had worked at Beauvoir for three years. Before the end of the 2007-08 school year, he resigned and told school officials he wouldn't be returning this year.

Federal authorities and police in Fairfax County, Va., and Montgomery County, Md., also are involved in the investigation, sources said. Incidents related to the case may have taken place inside homes in those counties.

Anyone with information about the case should call police at 202-727-9099.