Former Boston Teacher Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation

BOSTON - A former science teacher at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for coercing and enticing at least one underage female to engage in sexual conversations online and requesting that she produce and send child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of herself. Defendant, who also previously worked at the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Hyde Park and the Brookline Public Schools, possessed CSAM depicting rape of both female and male minors, ranging in age from approximately five to 17 years old.

John Magee Gavin, 35, of Brookline, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. In December 2025, Gavin pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor; one count of receipt of child pornography; and one count of possession of child pornography. Gavin was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2025, and remains in federal custody.

According to court filings, Gavin is a former teacher at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston. Prior to that, he was a 6th grade teacher at the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Hyde Park and was a paraprofessional with the Brookline Public Schools.

In January 2025, Gavin was identified as the owner of a Discord account who messaged at least 20 underage females between the ages of 12 and 17 years old located throughout the country, including Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada. In these chats, Gavin disclosed that he was a teacher, engaged in sexual conversations and often asked the minors to send him pictures of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct - knowing that the children were underaged. He was arrested by local authorities in February 2025 and charged in Brookline District Court with enticing a child under 16, possession of child pornography and other offenses.

A forensic review of evidence seized from Gavin's Brookline residence revealed approximately 147 files (94 images and 53 videos) on his iPhone depicting CSAM. The CSAM depicted rape of both female and male minors, ranging in age from approximately five to 17 years old.

Further analysis of Gavin's Discord account identified numerous chats with underage females in which he engaged in online masturbation sessions with the minors; solicitated images from and exchanged images with the minors; and engaged in sexualized conversations with the minors while he was at school.

The chats also included conversations in which Gavin expressed his sexual interest in certain students at Josiah Quincy. In one conversation, Gavin discussed his sexual interest in a freshman student at the school where he was employed as a teacher and fantasied about having sex with her.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Brookline Police Department; the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations; and the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.