Former Private School Coach Facing Indictment Returned to U.S. for Arraignment

The former cross country ski coach at a Seattle private school was returned to the U.S. today to appear for arraignment on his indictment on five child pornography related offenses, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  JASON CHRISTOPHER PAUR, 44, of Seattle was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in December 2013 at Silver Star ski area in British Columbia, Canada.  The arrest came after female students on a school sponsored field trip discovered a video camera had been hidden in their bedroom.  The camera had been positioned to video-tape the students while they got dressed after showering.  PAUR was immediately removed from the field trip by the chaperones who notified police.  PAUR was fired by the school, which has fully cooperated with law enforcement.  PAUR is charged with two counts of Production and Transportation of Child Pornography, Production of Child Pornography with Intent to Transport, Possession of Child Pornography and Transportation of Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.  PAUR was turned over to U.S. authorities today and will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle tomorrow at 2:00.

According to records in the case and the indictment, the investigation revealed that PAUR had also secretly recorded students while on the annual field trip in 2011 and 2012.  The camera seized in Canada contained images, taken in 2013, of students between the ages of 14 and 17 being secretly filmed while changing clothes or after exiting the shower.  The indictment alleges PAUR used the pictures for his own sexual gratification, and transported the pictures from Canada to the U.S.  The indictment further alleges that PAUR traveled with the juveniles to Canada with the intent to film them for his own sexual gratification.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Vaughan.