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Former Virginia Beach teacher faces charges including child porn possession and making threats

Former Virginia Beach teacher faces charges including child porn possession and making threats

Yahoo21-05-2025
VIRGINIA BEACH — A former Kempsville High School physical education teacher is facing multiple charges including threatening to 'mow down' school administrators with an assault rifle, coming to campus with knives and a hatchet in his car and possessing child pornography.
Joseph Molineaux, 59, is being held without bond in the city jail following his arrest last month. His charges include making threats in writing, possessing weapons on school property, trespassing after being forbidden, and five counts of possessing child pornography.
Police found the pornography — as well as two loaded assault rifles — at Molineaux's Virginia Beach home, according to court records.
Molineaux worked for Virginia Beach schools for more than 23 years, beginning in August 1999 and ending in February 2023 with his retirement, according to the school division. On April 25, police were called to Kempsville High after he showed up on campus. They found two large knives and a hatchet inside his car, court records said.
Police learned that Molineaux had sent a text to his mother the day before he went to the school, in which he referred to his dog, saying that the pet 'grounds me and keeps me from going into Walmart or into Kempsville High School with an AK-47 and mowing down administration,' the records said.
The Virginia Beach Public Defender's Office is representing Molineaux. A spokesman didn't immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
The child pornography was found in scrapbooks at Molineaux's house and on his phone, court records said. One section of a scrapbook was labeled, 'Only 16!!!' and included images of a partially dressed girl engaged in a sex act, the records said.
During an interview with police, Molineaux said he meant no harm and was intoxicated when he sent the text to his mother, the records said.
'He said he would never do anything like that and was frustrated,' according to a statement by police on a bail checklist. 'He said he was just venting to his mother.'
Police described Molineaux as polite and cooperative throughout the interview. His next court date is scheduled for July 24.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
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