Posted: 5/3/05
Teacher arrested on child porn charges
By Jane Palen
Managing Editor
A long-time Caledonia Elementary School music teacher and band director was arrested late Monday on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. Craig Gieser, 48, appeared in Third District Court on Tuesday morning, May 3. He had been hospitalized for several days and then left the area with a friend before being located Monday evening.
According to the police report, local authorities were alerted after an undercover detective in New Hampshire, posing as a 14-year-old boy in an internet chatroom, attracted the attention of the suspect. A person using the internet name cgiese1010 asked the ìboyî for pictures, and the detective sent pictures of himself as a 14-year- old. One was a school photo, and the others were of him in sports uniforms.
In return, the accused is believed to have sent photos of a sexually explicit nature featuring what appeared to be a teenaged boy.
According to the investigation, Gieser and the detective exchanged sexually explicit messages, and Gieser continued to send images of children, some as young as 6-8 years old, engaged in sexual activity. Most of the young people featured were males, but authorities did find images that included a young female as well.
According to Caledonia Police Chief Randy Shefelbine, Gieser was at home when his home was raided on the evening of April 22. A second search was conducted on April 27. Shefelbine explained that the warrant was ìfrozenî for a few days until the images could be examined to make sure that the photos were of under-age individuals. Shefelbine said many hundreds of images were removed from the home on various media such as CDs and disks.
A number of concerned parents have called his office, and Shefelbine said that as of this time, there is no reason to suspect that any of the images were of local children or that there was any inappropriate behavior between Gieser and his students.
Because of the extent and nature of the case, it will probably be prosecuted in federal court, Shefelbine said.
There are three felony charges listed on the complaint. The first is dissemination of pornography involving a minor, punishable by seven years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine; and two counts of possession of child pornography, both punishable by 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
The images for which Gieser is being prosecuted involve those he shared with the detective. Many more charges are likely because each single image depicting child pornography is a felony, and hundreds of such images exist on a single disk, Shefelbine explained.
Scott Yeiter of the La Crescent Police Department assisted in the investigation.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com