Head teacher arrested after requesting graphic videos of nine-year-old

This is the British head teacher of an elite preschool in Washington DC arrested for allegedly requesting graphic videos of a nine-year-old boy from a man claiming to be the child's father but who was actually an undercover FBI agent.

James Carroll, 55, head of the exclusive £33,000 per year ($42,000) National Child Research Center has been charged with one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

According to reports from the US Attorney’s Office, Carroll, who appeared in court last week, had allegedly engaged in conversations about ‘child sexual exploitation, circumcision of teenage boys’ as well as ‘urinating on teenage boys and adults’.

The head teacher was flagged to the FBI in September when an employee at instant-messaging app Discord contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to report that Carroll - who allegedly went by the username ‘CircumcisedLondonGay’ - had uploaded an image of two naked minors.

The tip was then forwarded to federal authorities, who traced the IP address to Carroll’s home and began investigating him.

An undercover FBI agent pretending to be the separated father of a nine-year old boy made contact with Carroll via Discord using a fake profile and was reportedly told by the Brit that he was interested in ‘boys only’ between the ages of eight and 12.

Carroll also allegedly told the agent that he was interested in watching ‘relentless’ sexual abuse and said that if the child is crying ‘I get more turned on’.

The undercover agent told Carroll that he sexually abused his child on a regular basis and offered to send him a video of the assault.

Carroll requested three ways he wanted to see the undercover agent abuse the child, it is claimed.

He was arrested shortly after, and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The District Attorney’s office said in a statement: ‘This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes agents and officers from the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Shinskie.’

According to his LinkedIn profile, Carroll had been head of school at NCRC since 2018 and had been working in the education sector in the U.S. since 2005.

The National Child Research Center (NCRC) was founded in 1928 for children aged between two to five.

It is described as the oldest continuously operating pre-school in the Washington area and states on its website that it ‘nurtures the whole child-socially, emotionally, and intellectually-toward a lifelong love of learning.’

The school’s board of trustees sent a letter to parents following Carroll’s arrest saying it was ‘shocked and deeply unsettled’ by Carroll’s arrest.

Board chair Megan Ortiz described it as ‘devastating.’

The letter stated: ‘Earlier today, NCRC’s Head of School James Carroll was arrested and charged with Attempted Enticement and Coercion of a Minor.

‘While we do not have reason to believe Mr. Carroll’s conduct involves NCRC students or families, we do understand the arrest and charging follows an FBI investigation into Mr. Carroll’s online activity on social media channels and message boards.’

The letter said that the school ‘immediately’ placed Carroll on administrative leave upon learning of his arrest.

Ms Ortiz wrote: ‘Mr. Carroll’s reported conduct — if true — represents a grave betrayal of your trust and ours.’

She continued that the NCRC is ‘committed to fostering a safe learning community for each of our students, and we expect each employee to embody these values in and out of the workplace.’