Press Release
Former Teacher At Denton High School, Who Was Arrested Last Week On A Federal Child Pornography Charge, To Remain In Federal Custody
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a hearing today in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, a U.S. Magistrate Judge has ordered that Gregory Bogomol, 38, of Fort Worth, Texas, must remain in federal custody during the pendency of his case. Bogomol was arrested last week by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on a federal criminal complaint charging possession of child pornography. U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement this afternoon.
According to the complaint, Bogomol was employed by the Denton Independent School District as a teacher at Denton High School. He resigned from that position the week prior to his arrest.
The investigation began when HSI was contacted by the parents of a 15-year-old male victim (MV) regarding an individual who solicited a nude photograph of the MV through a smartphone application. The investigation revealed that an individual, later identified as Bogomol, posing as a young female, “Crystal Williams,” had contacted MV. Their communication quickly turned sexual in nature. Bogomol sent nude images of a young female to MV, and he requested nude images of MV in return. MV sent one sexually explicit photograph of himself, but Bogomol requested another picture of MV’s nude body, including his face. MV declined to send any additional photos. Bogomol threatened to send the one photo that MV had sent to him to MV’s friends if he did not comply. MV still refused to send another photo, and he ended all communication with Bogomol. MV advised his parents, which led to the investigation.
On May 6, 2014, HSI special agents conducted a consensual interview with Bogomol at his residence. Two days later, a search warrant was obtained to search Bogomol’s cell phone and several files containing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were located.
A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The maximum statutory penalty for the offense as charged is 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. The government has 30 days to present the case to a federal grand jury for indictment.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
Anyone who may have been victimized in this case is asked to contact HSI at its toll-free number: 1-866-347-2423.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem is in charge of the prosecution.
Updated June 22, 2015
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