Washington paraeducator faces state, federal charges for alleged sex crimes against children

A paraeducator from eastern Washington was arrested on Saturday for alleged sexual crimes against a minor and  producing, possessing, and distributing child pornography.

Dallas Shuler, 28, faces state charges of sexually exploiting minors and possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct, and a federal charge of possession and receipt of child sexual abuse images.

According to the Spokesman-Review, Shuler was caught after investigators from the local sheriff’s office and the FBI caught a glimpse of his face in a screen recording of a sexually explicit video of two boys.

He admitted to investigators that he asked for sexually explicit photos and videos from minors for years because he was “sexually excited by” children ages 11 to 15, and received such content from 25 of them over the past year alone.

The now-former educator and coach went on to note that he would then “trade” the photos and videos with other minors, who would send him sexually explicit content in return. He explained that he had begun watching child abuse material at the age of 13, and called it an “addiction.”

Shuler admitted that he had posed as a younger man and arranged meetings with two 14-year-old boys. In one case, he recorded him and the boy giving each other oral sex in the forest near a local high school, then “traded” that footage for more.

As the Spokesman-Review reports, Shuler was informed by the United States Attorney’s Office in Eastern Washington that his alleged trading of sexually explicit photos and videos of children fell under the umbrella of interstate commerce, and thus violated federal law.

Shuler, who worked at Riverside Elementary School in Chattaroy for three years and coached at nearby Riverside High School for six years, is currently being held at Spokane County Jail on $150,000 bond. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for the federal charge alone.