Hahn Says Man Made Sex Tapes of Children

A Van Nuys truck driver, already in jail for engaging in lewd acts with children, was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor child molestation and pornography for making sexually explicit videos, Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said.

The five-count complaint charges John Edward Teichrow, 42, with two counts of committing immoral acts in the presence of a child, one count of possession of child pornography, one count of child molestation and one count of loitering near a school.

Teichrow has been in San Bernardino County Jail since Oct. 19 after he pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd activity with a child in an unrelated incident. He was awaiting transfer to state prison, where he will serve six years on those charges.

He also faces similar charges in Yuma, Ariz., where a $109,600 warrant was issued for his arrest.

Deputy City Atty. Tracy Webb said the charges filed Tuesday stem from last fall when Teichrow allegedly lured two 9-year-olds --a girl and a boy--into his camper truck by giving them a dollar.

Once in the truck, Teichrow attempted to persuade the children to fondle themselves and masturbate while he filmed them, Webb said. The boy refused, but the girl complied with Teichrow’s orders.

Also this year, prosecutors said Teichrow secretly filmed preschoolers in the bathroom and on the playground at a private school in Van Nuys. Although investigators said they recovered hours of film showing an estimated 40 children, Teichrow was never seen on the school’s grounds.

“He was spotted in a driveway adjacent to the school,” Webb said. “He had an incredible zoom lens.”

Los Angeles police arrested Teichrow on May 22 at National Auto Shippers in Van Nuys, where he worked as a truck driver. Charges in the San Bernardino case had been awaiting resolution.

While searching his pickup truck, investigators found 36 videotapes of an estimated 100 children, Webb said. Some of the children were filmed unclothed in the camper. Others were filmed while walking along the street.

Investigators said Teichrow may have made the tapes during trips across the country and into Canada. Authorities are attempting to locate the children through license plates that appear in the videos and other landmarks.

Teichrow’s job required that he travel throughout the United States and to Canada and Mexico. “This could have been going on for years,” Webb said. “There are probably lots and lots of victims out there that we don’t know about.” Webb said there was no evidence that Teichrow ever touched or engaged in sexual acts with any of the children.