SEATTLE — A teacher at Lakeside School was arrested late Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security on child exploitation charges out of Ohio where he previously worked.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative told KIRO 7 that Brian Sze, 34, is
in custody in Seattle and will be transferred to Ohio to answer the charges. Special agents executed a federal search warrant at his home.
Court documents describe disturbing messages and activities Sze allegedly engaged in with a 15-year-old male student. The documents said he had been teaching the student since fifth grade at schools within the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio.
The documents state that he taught music lessons to the same student. The alleged sexual activity happened during these lessons. Investigators said Sze even asked the student to film himself.
Lakeside School issued a statement, which said, in part:
“Lakeside School was contacted on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 29, by the United States attorney’s office regarding an investigation into a recently hired employee. The individual is under investigation in Ohio for sexual contact with a minor and for sending inappropriate messages using a digital device.
"The individual has been fired from Lakeside, is in police custody, and will not be returning to Lakeside or school-owned property.”
The school statement also said: “Lakeside conducted a full and thorough background check on the individual and received multiple positive references from his previous place of employment. Every employee at Lakeside School goes through the following background checks: a Social Security trace; a criminal county search; a criminal federal search; a multistate criminal check; a nationwide sex offender registry check; and a verification of educational history. We repeat these checks for employees every third year of employment. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed for us that the individual has no prior criminal record.”
The Catholic Diocese of Columbus told WBNS in Ohio that Sze was fired on June 15 for “unprofessional conduct,” after an inappropriate message with a student, separate from the student in the federal investigation. They also said the administration at Bishop Watterson never received inquiries for references after Sze was terminated.
But a Lakeside representative named four people working at the schools there who offered positive references in August, including Sze’s former department chair.
The Washington State Patrol told KIRO 7 that investigations in Washington do not appear on a person’s criminal record unless the person has been arrested and fingerprinted.
Sze will now be transferred to police custody in Ohio.
KIRO
