Former San Jose Christian school coach accused of selling child pornography on Reddit

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Todd Baldwin was arrested for paying students for explicit photos and videos. Photo credit: SJPD

SAN JOSE, California. – A former San Jose Christian school athletic trainer has been charged by federal prosecutors with allegations related to soliciting nude photos from teenagers, paying them for the images and then sharing the profits he earned by selling them on Reddit.

Asst. U.S. Attorney Marissa Harris charged Todd Baldwin, 44, with two counts of “enticement of a minor” stemming from what occurred between December 2022 and August 2023, based testimony from a 17-year-old boy at Valley Christian High, where Baldwin worked, and a 16-year-old boy at Live Oak High School in San Jose, as well as other online evidence.

Baldwin no longer works at Valley Christian, where administrators cooperated with investigators as early as last summer, when Baldwin was first arrested.

Baldwin does not have an attorney of record and has not yet entered a plea to the criminal charges filed Oct. 10. He is being held without bail.

San Jose police have been investigating the case since August 2023, but turned it over to the FBI.

In a federal complaint, FBI Special Agent Colleen Dettling detailed the allegations.

In October 2022, a 17-year-old boy, who was one of Baldwin’s teaching assistants, told investigators he wanted a job at the school. Baldwin said that if he took pornographic videos and photos of himself, he would sell those images on Reddit and share the profits, the criminal complaint states.

The boy sent photos of himself masturbating and posing sexually to Badwin via email and Snapchat, he told investigators.

Baldwin purchased a special ring light to improve the quality of the photos and also provided the boy with underwear that the teen wore during sports training, according to the criminal complaint. Baldwin then sold the “soiled underwear online” and shared the profits with the boy, Dettling wrote in his affidavit.

On at least one occasion, Baldwin himself took sexual photos of the teen at Valley Christian, before paying the boy “several hundred dollars.”

Officers found several pornographic videos and images the boy had sent to Baldwin on his computer. Police also searched Baldwin’s Venmo history and found that Baldwin had paid the teen on at least 28 occasions, totaling $4,265 between December 2022 and August 2023, according to the complaint.

San Jose police also questioned a 16-year-old boy at Live Oak High School in San Jose.

This boy knew the 17-year-old and wanted a similar arrangement. He contacted Baldwin on Snapchat and began sending Baldwin about 20 photos two or three times a week for several weeks. Baldwin paid him about $2,500, according to the complaint.

San Jose police interviewed Baldwin in August 2023, where he “admitted to receiving nude images from several boys in exchange for money,” including the 17- and 16-year-old boys, as well as two other Valley students Christian. , according to the complaint.

As of Friday, no next hearing was scheduled.

Baldwin had worked for the school since 1998. He was placed on administrative leave at the start of the investigation and is no longer employed by the school.

At the time, school President Clifford Daughtery told the campus community that school leaders “were deeply troubled by the actions described in these charges against a member of our Facilities Department, who are contrary to our Christian faith, our values, and standards.”