The director of a prestigious D.C. preschool was arrested and charged Tuesday in connection with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. News4’s Jackie Bensen spoke with an expert about how cases like these work.
The director of a prestigious preschool in Northwest D.C. faces federal charges after what prosecutors describe as his messages about child abuse on the app Discord.
James Carroll, 55, was charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, the office of the U.S. attorney for D.C. said.
Carroll is the head of school at the National Child Research Center, in the Cleveland Park area. The preschool serves children aged 2 to 5.
Through the course of the investigation, agents discovered the Discord user engaged in conversations with other users about explicit child content.
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Disturbing details from federal court documents say Carroll used a Discord account to upload child sex abuse material on Sept. 11.
Then, Carroll is accused of using Discord from Nov. 5 to 14 to “communicate with an undercover officer who posed as the father of a young child,” a statement from prosecutors said.
“Carroll directed the undercover officer to abuse his child over a period of approximately two weeks. Law enforcement agents identified Carroll as the Discord user based on IP addresses that traced back to both his residence and workplace,” the statement said.
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The affidavit in Carroll’s arrest says that in September, an employee of the communication app Discord discovered a suspected image of child sex abuse uploaded to its servers.
The employee reported it to a Cyber Tipline run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who gave it to the FBI.
Court documents say an FBI agent traced the IP addresses of the various locations where the Discord user accessed the internet. One was at the National Child Research Center preschool, prosecutors said.
The documents say the agent also located a cellphone number for the Discord user and that a subpoena revealed the owner’s name as James S. Carroll.
The FBI agent wrote that open-source databases revealed Carroll to be head of school for the NCRC, a position he has held since 2018.
Carroll was arrested Tuesday and charged. He appeared before a judge and was detained pending a hearing Monday, Nov. 25.
An investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is ongoing and includes members of the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department.
"Any time you can go on the internet and be anonymous and create any type of screen name, that is the issue," said John Pizzuro.
Pizzuro is a former law enforcement official and CEO of Raven, a nonprofit policy group that advocates for increased funding for Internet Crimes Against Children Programs.
"We arrested law enforcement officers, counselors, teachers – it doesn't matter the profession," he said.
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News4 learned Carroll was placed on administrative leave from his preschool director position. The school confirmed he was barred from its campus.
The school issued a statement from Board Chair Megan Ortiz that said in part:
“Like you, my Board colleagues and I are shocked and deeply unsettled by this news. We have no more serious responsibility than providing a safe environment for our children and families, and Mr. Carroll’s reported conduct — if true —represents a grave betrayal of our trust and yours.”
The statement went on to say: “We are committed to fostering a safe learning community for our students, and we expect each employee to embody these values in and out of the workplace.”
Carroll’s bio had been removed from the school’s website as of Tuesday afternoon.
Tuition at the National Child Research Center can cost as much as $42,000 per year, its website says. The center touts itself as D.C.’s oldest continuously operating preschool.
Court documents also link Carroll to the Beauvoir School, which is associated with the Washington National Cathedral. An attorney for the school said, “We do not comment on former employees.”
Carroll was ordered held behind bars until his next court appearance.
