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 age 2 to 5.
Disturbing details from federal court documents say Carroll used a Discord account to upload child sex abuse material on Sept. 11.
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Through the course of the investigation, agents discovered the Discord user engaged in conversations with other users about explicit child content.
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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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.
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News4 tried to speak with staff at the preschool, who said they had no comment.
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.
Carroll’s bio had been removed from the school’s website as of Tuesday afternoon.
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.”
