COLUMBUS, Ohio – Justin Foley, a 48-year-old resident of Delaware, Ohio, and former chemistry teacher at Columbus Alternative High School, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison. The sentencing follows Foley’s guilty plea in May 2023 to charges related to sexually exploiting a minor and possessing child pornography.
Foley utilized his cell phone and other digital devices discreetly to record explicit videos of his female students under their skirts and shorts during school hours. The offenses occurred while he was employed as a chemistry teacher at Columbus Alternative High School.
The investigation, initiated in August 2022, revealed that the Delaware Police Department received CyberTip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) concerning images of apparent child sexual abuse material uploaded via Google email accounts. IP addresses linked to Foley were traced during the inquiry, leading to the discovery of a second CyberTip report with five IP addresses associated with Columbus Public Schools.
Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Foley’s residence in 2022, where he admitted to creating videos in the school’s classrooms and hallways. FBI analysis of Foley’s devices uncovered numerous voyeuristic videos, some self-produced, recorded at various locations, including the high school, central Ohio department stores, downtown Delaware, and unidentified dressing rooms. The victims in these videos were unaware they were being recorded.
Foley’s modus operandi involved concealing his phone camera to capture explicit content of female students. Screenshots from these recordings were then manipulated to create still images of the victims’ nude genitalia.
Apart from the self-produced videos, over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material were recovered from Foley’s devices, depicting prepubescent females in various stages of nudity.
Foley was locally charged in Delaware County in September 2022 and federally charged in November 2022.