The FBI arrested a former D.C. teacher accused of producing and possessing child pornography, sources told News4's Pat Collins.
Eric Justin Toth, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was found over the weekend in Nicaragua, Collins reported.
Toth taught third grade at Beauvoir Elementary School on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral.
On June 12, 2008, Beauvoir sent a letter to parents saying that a teacher was found in possession of a school-owned camera with inappropriate pictures of a boy. Sources told News4 that pictures of at least three other boys being touched in inappropriate ways were on a thumb drive.
At least one of the boys photographed is believed to be a Beauvoir student. According to police, Toth secretly recorded video of a young boy in a school bathroom.
Toth was terminated and escorted off campus and has not been seen in the D.C. area since that day. When he went on the run, he changed his name and his look, authorities said.
FBI agents tracked Toth to his parents’ home in Madison, Wisc. Then in August 2008, his car was found in a parking garage at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A note in the car indicated that Toth was contemplating suicide and that his body would be found in a nearby lake, sources said. But investigators believed that was a ruse, police said, and no body was found.
Toth was indicted on child pornography charges in December 2008.
In June 2009, agents received a tip Toth was living and working at a homeless shelter in Phoenix. But when they got there, he was gone.
He is also believed to have traveled to Illinois and Indiana.
Toth has been described as a computer “expert” and is believed to have an above-average understanding of the Internet and Internet security. According to the FBI, he has the ability to blend in to various socio-economic classes.
Toth worked at Beauvoir for three years. He was known to tutor and babysit Beauvoir students, sources said.
During their search, the FBI warned Toth could try to get a job as a tutor both for money and for new victims.
The FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Follow Pat Collins on Twitter at @patcollins4
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Photo Credit: AP