Alpine School District teacher arrested for enticement of a minor, child pornography

OREM, Utah — A teacher in Alpine School District is in custody after it was reported he had been exchanging enticing texts and sexually explicit photos with a minor. The teacher was identified as 32-year-old Andrew Walsh who is being investigated for enticement of a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor. According to court documents, a father of a teenage boy found sexually explicit text conversations on his son's phone with an adult male identified as Walsh. Walsh knew the boy was a minor as the boy had said he was 17 in the text thread. Court documents state Walsh's response to that was, "that makes me want you even more." Police interviewed Walsh about the incident where he admitted he was aware of the boy's age. He also admitted to exchanging explicit photos with him and attempting to meet up with the boy in person. Investigators found Walsh was a public school teacher in Alpine School District. David Stephenson, Executive Director of Communications with the Alpine school District said the teacher has not returned to school to teach and has been put on administrative leave since the arrest. The Orem Police Department released the following statement:

"After a review of the recent arrest of a school teacher for enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography, it came to light that our agency failed to notify Alpine School District in a timely manner. Our agency is closely examining our procedures in order to insure administrators are made aware of any incidents involving active employees as soon as possible. We look forward to our continued collaborative relationship with the Alpine School District in order to keep our schools safe and productive."

Court documents stated Walsh would be held without bail as "he has easy access to children with whom he holds a position of trust."

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