TOPEKA, Kan. – A Topeka elementary school teacher has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to the possession of child sexual abuse materials.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, Joseph Donald Dube, 38, a fifth-grade teacher at State Street Elementary School, was charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse materials under federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).
Dube is accused of knowingly accessing and possessing materials depicting minors under the age of 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He made his initial court appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, where he pleaded not guilty. He remains in federal custody, with his next court hearing scheduled for Monday.
Investigation and Charges
The investigation is being led by the U.S. Secret Service and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Hunting is prosecuting the case.
The case against Dube falls under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat the growing issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet while also identifying and rescuing victims.
If convicted, Dube faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Response from Topeka USD 501
Topeka Unified School District 501 confirmed that Dube has been placed on administrative leave.
“We have not been made aware of any incident occurring on school property by law enforcement,” said Aarion L. Gray, general director of instructional services for USD 501. “Personnel matters are confidential; therefore, no additional information is available at this time.”
Legal Proceedings
The case has been assigned docket number 5:25-cr-40004-TC-1 in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
As the legal process unfolds, federal authorities emphasize the importance of Project Safe Childhood in addressing online child exploitation cases and encourage the public to report suspected cases of child exploitation through the Department of Justice website: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
