Ex-OC elementary school teacher gets 8 years for distributing child pornography

A former Anaheim elementary school teacher was sentenced Thursday, May 15 to eight years in federal prison for distributing child pornography.

Joseph William Page, 43, was arrested in May 2021 at Guinn Elementary School, where he previously taught sixth grade, according to an Anaheim Police Department news release following the arrest.

Police had received a tip suggesting that Page was sharing child pornography online. After executing a search warrant, investigators found he had thousands of images and videos of child pornography saved onto his cell phone, including videos showing pre-pubescent children forced to engage in sex acts with adults and with other children, according to the government’s sentencing papers.

A review of Page’s cell phone also showed that he used an online chat app to share many of the images and videos with others, investigators said.

Earlier this year, the ex-teacher pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Page’s defense attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

At the time of the conduct charged in the case, the defendant was an elementary school teacher, “in daily close proximity to young children,” prosecutors wrote.

“While the government has not received any reports of contact offenses, it is clear that defendant should not have been working with children under any circumstances,” the sentencing document stated. “Moreover, defendant’s conduct was not limited to simply viewing and storing child pornography: He was actively and intentionally sharing it with others.”