Teacher guilty of child porn

By Amanda Stewart

Published: May 27, 2008

A former Bull Run Middle School teacher pleaded guilty to federal charges of producing child pornography.

John Byron Shulick, 53, of Catlett, pleaded guilty Friday at U.S. District Court in Alexandria to taking pornographic pictures and videos of an underage girl,

according to court documents.

Shulick was an eighth-grade science teacher at Bull Run Middle School at the time of his arrest on March 28.

He had worked in the county schools since 2004.

According to court documents, Shulick met a 16-year-old Fairfax County girl on the Internet through an adult social networking Web site for people interested in "sexual practices such as bondage, sadistic and masochistic conduct [and] submissive/dominant

relationships."

The girl was not a student at Bull Run and Shulick is not accused of any crimes involving Prince William County students, school

officials said at the time of his

arrest.

According to an affidavit on file at U.S. District Court in Alexandria, the girl's mother's boyfriend saw her exiting Shulick's vehicle in early March. The girl then admitted their relationship, Fairfax County Police said in the affidavit.

The girl said that Shulick had given her a cell phone, which contained nude pictures of her that Shulick had taken.

Fairfax County police conducted a search warrant at Shulick's Catlett home on March 12, according to court documents.

Authorities seized his cell phone, two computers, two digital cameras, nude pictures of the girl and an outfit the girl wore in one of the

pictures.

According to the affidavit, one picture shows the girl wearing what police described as "a checkered school girl outfit" next to a large dog cage and a whip; another shows the girl shackled to the ceiling in the living room, wearing the same outfit. In other photos the girl is shown wearing a dog collar and a leash, according to the court documents.

Police later found several other images of child pornography on Shulick's computer.

Shulick will be sentenced on Aug. 22, officials from the U.S. Attorney's office said.

He faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.