Man charged with buying child porn

Deepa Bharath

A 38-year-old Newport Beach teacher who worked with children

suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was charged

Thursday with buying a videotape that contained child pornography,

officials said.

Daniel T. Flynn has agreed to plead guilty to one count of

receiving child pornography, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lee

said.

The investigation began in March when Flynn sent an e-mail to an

undercover U.S. postal inspector seeking to purchase a 30-minute

videotape of minors engaging in sexually explicit acts, officials

said.

On May 16, the Postal Inspection Service and other officers

delivered the $30 tape that Flynn had ordered over the Internet.

Flynn then took that package and kept it in his car, officials said.

He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Flynn worked as a teacher for the Irvine Unified School District

at UC Irvine’s Child Development Center, which houses the program,

said Sue Long, assistant superintendent of human resources for the

school district.

He has worked one-on-one with children in that program for more

than 10 years, she said. Flynn went through fingerprinting and

background checks that are mandated by state law, Long said.

“He had no prior record at the time,” she said.

He was placed on administrative leave in May and denied access to

the center when the investigation began, said Jim Cohen, a spokesman

for UC Irvine.

“No information has been presented as part of the investigation

indicating that the welfare of any children at the center has been

affected by this matter,” he said.

Flynn resigned Friday, Long said.

He is expected to enter his plea in a federal court on Oct. 6.

Flynn faces up to 15 years in federal prison.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].