Police Allege Teacher Paid to Molest Child

A Huntington Beach school teacher who allegedly thought he was paying $200 to arrange for sex with a 9-year-old girl was instead arrested Friday night, Huntington Beach police said.

The teacher, identified as Terrence Joseph Beal, 49, of Huntington Beach, was released on $50,000 bail Saturday pending a felony charge of an attempted lewd act with a child under age 14 and a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a lewd act with a child under age 14, said Huntington Beach Police Lt. Luis Ochoa.

“It’s essentially attempted child molesting,” Ochoa said.

Beal is scheduled to appear April 8 in Municipal Court in Westminster.

Beal was placed on administrative leave from his job as a special education teacher at Helen Stacey Intermediate School, which although in Huntington Beach is part of the Westminster School District.

“Until we know more facts, it has to be a paid leave,” said Nancy L. Blumenthal, president of the Westminster School District Board of Trustees. “I really can’t say any more than that.”

Neighbors in the Huntington Beach apartment complex where Beal lives said they knew little about the man.

The arrest began with a tip from a woman who told police she was concerned about a conversation she had with Beal, Ochoa said.

“Detectives were contacted by a citizen who knew Beal from a prior business contact,” Ochoa said, declining to specify the nature of the business. “Beal had made a statement to her that he wanted to have sex with young children and that he wanted to make a child porno video.”

Police had the woman put Beal in contact with a police detective posing as the operator of an escort service, Ochoa said.

“In a telephone conversation, Beal solicited sex acts with a child and requested specifically a 9-year-old girl,” Ochoa said.

Beal and the detective agreed to meet at a hotel of Beal’s choice. Friday evening, Beal called the detective to say he had checked into the Executive Suites Inn in Westminster, Ochoa said.

“They met in the lobby,” Ochoa said. “Beal handed the detective an envelope containing $200 in cash, and was promptly arrested.”