(Texas Scorecard) – Three Texas teachers made news last week over charges of child pornography—also known as child sexual abuse material, as the images and videos depict sex crimes being committed against minors.
The educators worked in Dallas, Leander, and Wall Independent School Districts. Two of the three taught band.
Dallas ISD
On December 13, Dallas Police arrested Sean Turner, 34, and charged him with possession of pornography featuring a child younger than 10 years old—a first-degree felony.
Turner worked as a music teacher at Adamson High School in Dallas ISD at the time of the alleged offense.
Turner’s now-deleted social media pages indicated he was the school’s band director and an assistant choir director at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
His social media posts also revealed he is married, supported Black Lives Matter, and was “not okay” with Donald Trump’s re-election. His website shows he was previously a band director at Inspired Vision Academy Secondary, an A+ Charter Schools campus in Dallas.
State records show Turner was first certified as a classroom music teacher in 2015 and is now under investigation by the Texas Education Agency.
Leander ISD
Retired principal Curtis John Locklear was arrested December 12 and charged with felony possession of child porn.
Locklear was arrested by the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office working with the Houston-area Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
Locklear reportedly worked as the principal of Block House Creek Elementary in Leander ISD from 1995 until 2008.
He currently works as an author, musician, and “positive education consultant,” according to his website. He was also a Montgomery County GOP precinct chair in 2020-21.
Investigators noted that Locklear’s profession provided him opportunities to be around children.
State records show Locklear has lifetime educator certifications dating back to 1975 and is currently under TEA review.
Wall ISD
Also on December 12, a federal judge sentenced Joshua Carroll to 30 years in prison for possessing and producing child porn.
Carroll was an assistant band director in Wall ISD from January 2022 until his crimes were discovered earlier this year.
He was caught sending sexually explicit messages and images to several underage female students via TikTok and other apps and asking the girls to share explicit pictures.
Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested 33-year-old Carroll in May for online solicitation of a minor.
Investigators then discovered Carroll possessed child sexual abuse material, some of which he’d made himself, and the case was turned over to federal authorities.
State records show Carroll was certified to teach music in 2015 and is currently under TEA review.
Waco ISD
A fourth Texas teacher, Roosevelt Alexander, was arrested Monday and charged with displaying harmful material to a minor, a Class A misdemeanor.
Alexander is a 46-year-old teacher’s aide at Waco ISD’s Wiley Opportunity Center, a disciplinary alternative educational program (DAEP) facility. He’s accused of showing a 16-year-old female student an explicit video of himself while they were in class. The exchange was reportedly captured by school security cameras.
Turner, Locklear, Carroll, and Alexander are among the growing number of Texas teachers charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse.
Earlier this year, middle school band teacher Mark Mallow was sentenced to 131 years in prison after being found guilty on 20 counts of possessing and promoting child pornography. Mallow taught at Judson ISD and also gave private music lessons.
Other band teachers have been charged with sex crimes against students in Krum, Keller, and Palestine ISDs.
At least 25 Texas teachers have faced child pornography charges during the past few years.