Teacher Pleads Not Guilty to Child Pornography

A Redlands elementary school teacher who is a regional vice president of the California Teachers Assn., pleaded innocent Monday to federal charges of possessing child pornography.

Philip George Dupuis allegedly had more than 700 photographs of young boys engaging in sexual acts with adult men, some of them sadistic, according to court records.

Dupuis was arrested Dec. 23 and is being held without bail. Authorities said that during the arrest they also found a copy of an anonymous letter sent to a Redlands school last year, accusing Dupuis of touching boys.

The 49-year-old music teacher was indicted Friday on one charge of possessing child pornography and was required to forfeit the materials. He faces up to 29 years in prison if convicted of child pornography possession under federal law, officials said.

Dupuis has taught music to children in grades 1 through 6 at several schools in the Redlands district for 14 years.

He was arrested after a nephew of a police dispatcher who cleans Dupuis’ apartment told authorities he found photographs of young boys engaged in sexual acts, along with sex paraphernalia.

During a search of Dupuis’ home and another nearby residence where he was moving, authorities found numerous computer disks depicting young boys engaged in graphic sex acts.