Former Gilroy High School science teacher Douglas Le was charged with 20 felonies Monday after impersonating a female porn star and soliciting photos from high school boys, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
Le, 25, didn’t enter a plea in court, but was put back in jail in lieu of $475,000 bail. He had been out on $50,000 bail.
Le, a graduate of Bellarmine Preparatory High School, UC-Berkeley and Brown University, is charged with possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in or simulating sexual conduct, annoying or molesting a child, nine counts of sending harmful matter to a minor, and nine counts of communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a specified crime. If convicted, he could receive more than eight years in prison.
Le was disciplined by the Gilroy Unified School District for sending an inappropriate text in 2014, but he was not fired. Three alleged victims are suing the district for not firing Le after the 2014 incident. High-profile Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred filed the cases and held a press conference last week in front of the school district office.
Police said the AP chemistry teacher and track coach contacted 500 youths online as “Rae Pelletier,” an imaginary porn star.
From June 2014 through at least January 2016, Le allegedly traded texts and explicit photographs and videos with several minors from Gilroy High School and other Santa Clara County high schools through Facebook’s instant messenger app.
In April, Facebook alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that the “Rae Pelletier” account may be having inappropriate communication with a minor. The alert was forwarded to the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which opened an investigation. On April 26, a search warrant was executed at Le’s residence and several computers, hard drives, and other media were seized. Le was arrested that day.
He resigned from Gilroy High School a few days later.
