SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Zachary McGraw, a teacher at Golden Oak Elementary, was arrested on felony child porn allegations in December but was released pending further investigation. McGraw was re-arrested in February.
- To read 23ABC's previous reporting on this story, please click here.
- According to a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office, the case against Zachary McGraw was sent back to the Bakersfield Police Department after his original arrest for further investigation.
- BPD Public Information Officer Eric Celedon said the reason the case was sent back was because the District Attorney's office wanted a forensic analysis of McGraw's phone which was obtained with a search warrant in December of 2024. After the report was complete and filed, a warrant was filed for McGraw's arrest on Monday and he was placed in police custody on Feb. 3.
- According to arrest documents, child sex abuse material was allegedly sent through a messaging application with an I.P. address tied to an account in McGraw's name. The document further alleges that several folders containing various forms of child pornography were found on McGraw's phone.
- McGraw will be arraigned on two felony charges of possession and distribution of child sex abuse material on Feb. 26.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, Zachary McGraw, a teacher within the Richland School District, was originally arrested in December and then re-arrested earlier this month on two felony allegations, one for possession, the other for distribution of child pornography.
You might remember when we covered this story late last year, when McGraw was originally arrested after an investigation spawned from a tip received by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children and members of the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce conducted the investigation and made the arrest.
However, shortly after McGraw's arrest, he was released after the District Attorney's office sent the case back to the Bakersfield Police Department for further investigation at the end of December according to a DA spokesperson.
According to BPD spokesperson Eric Celedon, sometimes specific reports may not be ready for complex investigations, and then it's a waiting game.
"Specifically in the McGraw case, they requested a forensic report on the contents of Mr. McGraw's phone. So once we got that formal request on December 26, we submitted that request to our partner analyst who works for the US Secret Service. We got that report back on January 31 and then we had the warrant issued this last Monday, which I believe was the third we had Mr. McGraw in custody the same day on that outstanding warrant." said Celedon
According to the probable cause report, child sex abuse material was uploaded through a messaging app with an I.P. address that was allegedly tied to McGraw's account. The task force served a search warrant to obtain McGraw's phone, and according to the arrest documents, officers found several folders containing child porn.
As we reported back in December, according to Celedon, the investigation shows no area children are involved in this incident. McGraw was employed as a teacher at Golden Oak Elementary and has worked for the Richland School District for close to 10 years.
According to Richland School District Superintendent Rosa Romero McGraw is no longer a member of the Richland school district as of February 4, he is scheduled to be arraigned on those two felony counts on February 26.
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