Tenino Elementary School Teacher Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

            A teacher at Tenino Elementary School is in custody today charged with possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  JAMES DONALD MOBLEY, 46, was arrested yesterday on a criminal complaint charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography.  MOBLEY is also active as a volunteer in Boy Scouts and as a private tutor.  The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Tenino Police Department are investigating the case. Parents who are concerned about contact their children may have had with MOBLEY are asked to call Tenino Police at 360-264-2626.

            According to records filed in the case, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been investigating an international company that distributed child pornography through the mails and via download to personal computers.  In May 2011, foreign law enforcement executed a search of the business and seized hundreds of child pornography DVDs and business records.  An analysis of those records revealed that on multiple occasions between February 2009 and January 2011, MOBLEY had purchased suspected child pornography from the company.  In a search of MOBLEY’s home, law enforcement seized a computer hard drive and additional DVDs of child pornography.

            MOBLEY remains detained at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, Washington pending a detention hearing on Tuesday January 22, 2013.  The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

            The case is being investigated by the Tenino Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci Ellsworth.