A Harker Heights teacher and coach was arrested Thursday and charged with online solicitation of a child.

Townsquare Media news partner KWTX reports that 46-year-old David Anthony Balsinger was taken into custody at Union Grove Middle School Thursday. Balsinger is a science teacher at Union Grove, and serves as the school's 7th grade football and basketball coach.

Hamilton County Sheriff Justin Caraway told KWTX that Balsinger used Kik, an anonymous chat app, to attempt to solicit sexually explicit photos and videos from underage users.

Caraway said Balsinger established contact with an undercover Hamilton County Sheriff's Department officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, identified himself as a 45-year-old teacher and coach in Killeen, then attempted to gain photographs of the girl's genitals.

KWTX reports that officers spoke with Balsinger at Union Grove Wednesday, and that he admitted to trying to solicit sexual images from someone he believed to be an underage girl. Investigators determined that Balsinger was in contact with the person for almost 16 hours, and that he was on the clock for much of that time.

Balsinger is married and has two children.

KISD officials issued the following statement following Balsinger's arrest:

Killeen ISD placed David Balsinger, a teacher and coach at Union Grove Middle School, on administrative leave and barred him from access to KISD schools on Thursday after learning of a pending Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department investigation into an allegation of online solicitation of a minor. The case does not involve a Killeen ISD student.

 

The Killeen Independent School District requires teachers and all employees to maintain the highest standards of conduct and will never tolerate illegal or inappropriate behavior by an employee toward any child. We are saddened and outraged by this alleged conduct by one of our teachers. We will work closely with law enforcement officials in this matter, and if the allegations prove true, we will support the strongest possible legal action against this teacher.

Balsinger has taught and coached at Union Grove since 2007, and was a teacher at Mountain View Elementary from 2003 to 2007.

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