A Richardson teacher has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested on suspicion of online solicitation of a minor.
Bloomberg Wire
A Richardson teacher was arrested after the social media platform Grindr flagged a conversation he allegedly had with a minor that eventually was sent to police, according to an arrest warrant affidavit recently obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
The teacher, Michael Fouse, was arrested on suspicion of online solicitation of a minor Aug. 28, but police released little information about what they reviewed that led to Fouse’s arrest. The affidavit written by an officer for the Richardson Police Department shows that police were able to review an about two-hour conversation allegedly between Fouse and a 16-year-old on the platform Grindr. The document also reveals how social media platforms monitor conversations between their users to detect potential criminal offenses.
Fouse, 41, was not on campus when he was arrested. He argued in an interview with police that he had never met the 16-year-old face-to-face, nor did he ever have any sexual relationship with any of his students. Richardson Independent School District, which employs Fouse, placed him on administrative leave shortly after his arrest, according to a statement from the district.
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Related: Richardson ISD teacher arrested on online solicitation of a minor felony charge
Fouse did not reply to a text message sent to a number listed for him by Saturday evening. It was not immediately clear if he obtained legal representation.
According to the affidavit, Grindr — a social media platform for LGBTQ people — flagged a conversation between two of its users to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center subsequently sent the chat log to Richardson police on Aug. 20, along with the IP address and approximate area of one of the users involved.
The chat log does not name either of the people involved. One of the users was named “Now?” on the platform, and police refer to that user as the suspect.
The chat log shows that the suspect started the conversation with an unnamed victim by asking “watcha doin” at around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 17. The victim replied with a sexually explicit message. They discussed living near each other and potentially meeting up.
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It appears the suspect initially thought the victim was not a minor. He later asked if the victim was 26. The victim replied, “No lol.” At first, the victim indicated he was 17, which is legally the age of consent in Texas. He later corrected his age once again and said he was 16.
But after they discussed their ages, the two had a conversation that was “sexually explicit in nature,” according to the arrest report. The two discussed meeting at a Whole Foods or at the suspect’s house, but police said in the affidavit it appeared the two never met up. The two also exchanged photos, but detectives could not see what the photos were from the chat log.
Related: Man accused of soliciting minor taught at Texas school, North Richland Hills PD says
Police used records from AT&T and interviews with a manager of an apartment complex to determine Fouse was the suspect.
On Aug. 28, police served a search warrant at Fouse’s home and asked about his social media use. He eventually told detectives he was on Grindr, but recently got rid of the app.
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Police asked Fouse if he ever had a conversation with someone on the app that could “come across as young.” Grindr prohibits people younger than 18 from using its platform. Fouse mentioned that, then added that if people say they are 16 or 17, he does not meet them, according to the affidavit.
Police asked if he recently had a conversation with someone who ended up being 16, and Fouse admitted it happened a few weeks ago, according to the affidavit. He confirmed other details of the conversation to police, such as the two discussing a meeting in a Whole Foods parking lot.
A detective asked if, after the other user said they were 16, the conversation kept going. Fouse said that it “kept going, but shouldn’t have.” He told police that the two never met face-to-face and if they did meet up, that he “would have liked to talk, see what happened.” He told police he was curious about the other user’s story and his actions were “a terrible choice.”
Fouse said he kept in touch with some of his former students on Instagram, but there is “nothing sexual,” according to the affidavit. Police asked Fouse if he ever had any type of dating relationship with a student; he said he hadn’t.
Fouse later admitted he could not log into Grindr the day after the conversation. He told police he was not sure of his username, but it was probably “Now?” He was arrested after an interview with police.
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A spokesperson for Grindr did not answer a question from The News of whether it was contacted by police for further information related to Fouse.
Fouse taught science at Berkner High School. Sandra Verduzco, a spokeswoman for Richardson ISD, said Fouse remains on administrative leave “pending required legal steps regarding further employment action” as of Friday. She did not specify what those legal steps were.
Richardson police did not respond to further questions.
Fouse, who bonded out of the Richardson city jail, faces a charge of online solicitation of a minor, which is a third-degree felony under Texas law. If convicted, he could face 2 to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
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