A Pasco teacher accused of using artificial intelligence to create child pornography based on students' yearbook photos was also charged with grooming one of his students, according to a criminal complaint. .
Stephen Hauser, 67 years old; The former third-grade teacher at Beacon Christian Academy in New Port Richey was originally arrested in March on five counts of possession of child pornography. Deputies said he admitted to using a yearbook photo of three students' faces to generate “sexually suggestive” photos of the women's bodies.
During the investigation, detectives also learned that Houser was attempting to form a relationship with one of the students, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Houser began showing favoritism to a female student in his third-grade class during the 2020-2021 school year. The school's principal told detectives that Hauser needed to be “temporarily reassigned” to give students the answers to the test to ensure they passed, according to the complaint.
The student told detectives that Hauser continually told her he loved her and that when he was outside of school, he messaged her on the popular children's gaming app Roblox.
According to the complaint, the student told detectives, “He always told me he loved me, which is really weird.” “He would text me on Roblox and he would always tell me about it. It was really weird.”
According to the complaint, when Hauser was assigned as the student's fourth-grade science teacher for the 2022-2023 school year, he continued to tell the student, “I love you.”
“The victim privately told the defendant to stop telling him she loved him because he was 'sick of it,'” the complaint states. “The victim advised the defendant that he looked 'angry' when he was told this, and angrily said 'okay' and walked away.”
The student told detectives he never heard Hauser say he loved him to another student. She also told detectives that Hauser continued to buy her gifts and gave them to her in front of her other students in her classroom. The gifts included earrings, a stuffed animal from the movie “Lilo and Stitch,” a stuffed squishmallow and a blanket with the words “I love you to the moon” written on it.
The student told detectives he didn't want the gift, but Hauser insisted he keep it. Other students in the classroom did not receive any gifts, according to the complaint.
The student told detectives that he thought Hauser and Hauser were “best friends” until Hauser told him he loved him. She thought it was “really weird” that her teacher considered them more than friends.
According to the complaint, Hauser continued to message students on Roblox even after he left the school during the 2023-2024 school year. According to the complaint, he frequently visited the school attached to the church and tried to meet with students.
According to the complaint, Hauser was on campus for three weeks in November building sets for a Christmas show and told students he “wanted to meet” them on Roblox.
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Hauser continued to send messages to students until March 7th. The suit says the students were called nicknames such as “dewdrops,” “potato pouches” and “koalas.”
While searching Hauser's desktop computer, detectives discovered a folder named “dewdrop.” The folder contained “numerous images” of students, the complaint states.
The complaint says Hauser also had in his possession several computer-generated images of students engaging in sex acts. Other computer-generated images showed the student's face pressed against the body of another woman in her underwear.
Detectives also found a sticky note in Hauser's wallet with Hart and the student's name written on it, the complaint states.
Hauser was arrested on March 19 after investigators discovered he was in possession of computer-generated images, as well as two photos and three videos containing child pornography.
In an interview with detectives at the time, Hauser said he was interested in seeing the students naked and admitted to creating sexually suggestive photos of children, but he did not encourage students to engage in sexual acts. He said he had never tried. They are his “children.”
Houser currently faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of solicitation of a student, according to court records. He was being held Monday at the Land O' Lakes Detention Center on $425,000 bail.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges through his public defender.