Teacher suspended after arrest in child porn case

A Harrison School District 2 charter school teacher accused of viewing child pornography and arranging to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex has been suspended, an administrator said Friday.

Randal Albert Gomas, 45, of Peyton was arrested Thursday by the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

He is accused of sexual exploitation of a child, enticement of a child, attempted sexual assault on a child without force and Internet luring.

Officers arrested Gomas when he arrived at an arranged location in Stetson Hills for what he thought would be sex with the girl, police said.

Jonathan Berg, interim chief executive officer of James Irwin Charter School, said Gomas has been at the school for about four years, serving as athletic director, activities director, baseball coach and most recently, a science teacher with 80 to 100 students a day.

He was placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of his criminal case, Berg said.

Gomas, who has no criminal record in Colorado, according to a court database, passed a background check for felony and misdemeanor convictions, Berg said.

Police said their investigation began after the mother of the 14-year-old girl discovered her daughter was distributing pornographic images of herself over the Internet.

Then, the woman learned her daughter was having sexual conversations with a number of men online.

Police determined one of the suspects — Gomas — lived in the Pikes Peak area and set up a meeting on Thursday.

They tracked him to Irwin because Gomas was using his school laptop computer, which broadcasts a unique Internet provider address number.

Police said the girl did not misrepresent her age in her online chats.

Berg said the girl is not a student at James Irwin, and, so far, there is no indication any of Gomas’ students have been victimized.

“You’re, of course, shocked and saddened,” Berg said of the reaction at the school to Gomas’ arrest. “This certainly is not the expectations and culture that we have here.”

Berg said police told him Gomas was able to avoid detection by the school’s staff that monitors computer use by using a personal e-mail account to get around security blocks.

Parents have been notified of the teacher’s arrest by phone calls, letters and through the school’s Web site, Berg said.

Counselors will be at the school Monday to talk to any students who are having trouble coping with the news, Berg said.

Gomas was released from the El Paso County jail on Friday on $10,000 bond.