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Authorities have arrested James Stewart Carroll, the director of a prestigious preschool in Washington, D.C., on child abuse charges.
PEOPLE reports that James Stewart Carroll, head of a Northwest. D.C. preschool was charged on Nov. 19 with attempted enticement of a minor. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office states Carroll allegedly used the Discord app to talk with an undercover officer posing as a child’s father. Fox5DC notes that Discord launched an investigation into Carroll after an employee flagged a suspected child sexual abuse file uploaded to their servers on Sept. 11.
According to PEOPLE, the undercover agent pretended to be a separated father who claimed to regularly abuse his 9-year-old son during custody weekends. According to The Independent, the report states that James Stewart Carroll urged the agent to continue the abuse, as detailed in the court documents.
“Carroll directed the undercover officer to abuse his child over a period of approximately two weeks. Law enforcement agents identified Carroll as the Discord user based on IP addresses that traced back to both his residence and workplace,” the press release notes.
NBC4 Washington, citing federal court documents, adds that James Stewart Carroll, a staff member at the National Child Research Center, allegedly discussed explicit child content with other Discord users. According to The Washington Post, the complaint exposed a conversation where he talked about “child sexual exploitation, circumcision of teenage boys, and urinating on teenage boys and adults,” as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
PEOPLE reports that James Stewart Carroll appeared in court on November 19. His next hearing is set for Monday, November 25. NBC4 Washington notes that Carroll has served as head of the National Child Research Center since 2018.
Following the news of his arrest, NCRC Board Chair Megan Ortiz addressed parents in a letter. In the letter, Ortiz stated that she had told James Stewart Carroll not to return to campus or contact any NCRC member. Additionally, she expressed that she and her colleagues were extremely shocked by his actions.
“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. Mr. Carroll has been instructed that he is not permitted to return to campus for any reason and is not to contact any member of the NCRC community. His access to his email, the school’s networks, and all school owned technology has been cut off. Like you, my Board colleagues and I are shocked and deeply unsettled by this news,” Megan Ortiz wrote in the letter.
