Former South Bay Coach Arraigned On Federal Child Porn Charges

SAN JOSE, CA — A former South Bay coach and school staffer was arraigned this week on federal charges of enticing minors and receiving child pornography after prosecutors allege he recruited teen students to produce child sex abuse material to sell online.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Todd Baldwin, 44, was a sports coach, teaching assistant, and operations manager at Valley Christian High School in San Jose when the alleged crimes occurred. He currently lives in Washington state and surrendered to federal authorities in San Jose in late October.

In a federal complaint, prosecutors allege Baldwin persuaded two male high school students to create pornographic images and videos between December 2022 and last August. The complaint alleges Baldwin received some of the explicit content over Snapchat and e-mail, and in at least one case arranged a "photo shoot" inside his school office, and sold the material on social media.

In exchange, prosecutors allege Baldwin sent thousands of dollars over mobile payment apps to the boys and at least two other students and designated some of the victims as his "teaching assistants" in class.

Last August, detectives in San Jose obtained a search warrant for Baldwin's email account, where prosecutors allege "numerous" explicit videos and photos were found.

Baldwin was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of enticement of minors and two counts of receipt of child pornography. According to court records, he pleaded not guilty to the charges and is on conditional release pending a hearing scheduled for early February. If convicted, prosecutors said the charges carry a minimum 10-year sentence, with the potential for a life sentence.

As The Mercury News reports, the arraignment hearing came one day after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of one of the victims alleging the school failed to respond to "red flags" in Baldwin's behavior.

In a statement provided to KRON 4, Valley Christian Schools said the "deeply troubling allegations" were "diametrically opposed to our values and the teachings of Jesus Christ" and that school leadership acted swiftly to remove Baldwin as soon as they became aware of the situation.