Salem gym teacher arrested for child seduction – NBC Boston

A teacher in Salem, Massachusetts, was arrested on charges of child exploitation.

According to prosecutors, 42-year-old Darren Benedick of Salem was arraigned in Newburyport District Court on Wednesday. He is accused of seducing children and distributing material harmful to minors.

Benedick, who teaches physical education and health education at Salem Academy Charter School, was arrested Wednesday in an undercover operation, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.

He is accused of scheduling a meeting with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but in reality he was an undercover officer with the Newbury Police Department. The officer was monitoring a chat room “for teens only,” prosecutors said.

“The defendant allegedly had online conversations with the undercover officer, expressing a desire to meet in person and engage in sexual acts, sending the officer an obscene image and describing the sexual acts he wanted to perform,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release. “A meeting was arranged for Wednesday, July 3, and the defendant was taken into custody upon his arrival for the planned encounter.”

A judge set Benedick’s bail at $5,000, with conditions including GPS monitoring, house arrest and no contact with children, prosecutors said.

Salem Academy Charter School said it placed Benedick on leave immediately after learning of his arrest.

“We are in contact with police and will cooperate with their ongoing investigation,” Executive Director Stephanie Callahan said in a statement. “Authorities stated they have not received any allegations that Salem Academy students were involved in the incident.”

It was not immediately clear whether Benedick had a lawyer who could comment on the allegations.