Former Delhi High School Teacher Indicted on Federal Child Sexual Abuse Material Charges

On Thursday, November 5, 2026, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging the teacher with distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said. According to court documents cited by prosecutors, the teacher used the internet to distribute the material between November 2024 and September 2025, a period when the teacher worked at Delhi High School in Merced County.

The teacher was arrested on November 6 and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on November 9, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A detention hearing is scheduled for November 12. Prosecutors said the charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges are only allegations, and the teacher is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Central Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, and the Merced County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation. We may update this article as the federal case proceeds.

The indictment follows an arrest in March 2026. Merced County sheriff’s deputies arrested the teacher at home on allegations of possessing and distributing such material, KSEE/KGPE reported at the time. Deputies said then that investigators had not found any links to local children.

After that arrest, the Delhi Unified School District said the teacher was no longer on campus and no longer had contact with students or access to district technology, ABC30 reported. The district said that, based on information from law enforcement, there was no indication that any of its students were involved and no evidence that any inappropriate conduct occurred on school grounds. It also said it was cooperating with law enforcement and would conduct its own internal investigation.

We found no newer statement from the district about the federal charges as of November 10, 2026. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s announcement nor the district’s statement alleges any failure by the school.

California does not leave the first step to a district’s discretion. When a credentialed school employee is charged in court with one of the sex offenses the Education Code lists, the district must immediately place that employee on compulsory leave. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing must then suspend the employee’s credential once it receives the charging document (Education Code §44940).

Schools also screen people before they work with students. Our article on how California schools screen walk-on and volunteer coaches explains those clearance rules, and our school sexual abuse page covers what a school’s duty to protect students means in a civil case.

The children shown in this kind of material are survivors of abuse, and the law gives them civil claims of their own. Under federal law, a person who was a minor when they were the victim of a listed offense, including the federal offenses covering this material, can sue in federal court for actual damages or $150,000, and the statute now sets no time limit to file (18 U.S.C. §2255).

California has its own rules. There is no deadline to sue over childhood sexual abuse that happened on or after January 1, 2024. For earlier abuse that involved making or sharing such images, a survivor generally has until their 40th birthday, or 10 years after discovering as an adult that the material exists (Code of Civil Procedure §340.11).

This overview of federal and California law is general information, not legal advice.

Survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation deserve to be heard, whether the harm happened last year or long ago. Wilshire Law Firm’s sexual abuse attorneys represent survivors of childhood sexual abuse in claims involving schools and other institutions. For Central Valley families, our nearest office is in Stockton. You can also meet our legal team, or read our coverage of a coach’s arrest at Buchanan High in Clovis.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. Suspected abuse can also be reported to local law enforcement or the county’s child welfare agency.

A Wilshire Law Firm legal professional can talk with you in confidence, answer your questions, and explain the options that may be open to you. You decide what happens next, and there are no fees unless you get paid.

Contact Wilshire Law Firm today.