By Staff Reporter |
James Badger, 45, a Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) teacher was arrested for sexual exploitation of children.
Badger taught at Tucson High Magnet School (THMS). He was arrested on Tuesday by the Tucson Police Department and charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The statement of probable cause for Badger’s arrest cited child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images downloaded to his computer.
“On a computer belonging to James the Sandra series from BitTorrent download was located on this computer, along with other CSAM material. A manual preview of the device showed there was a large amount of CSAM on the computer,” read the statement. “10 images were selected that met the criteria of sexual exploitation of a minor. These images included prepubescent females below the age of 15 that were nude in sexual poses where their genital area was the focus. They lacked breast development or pubic hair.”
Badger formerly taught at Parker High School, where he oversaw the drama club. Badger left after an undisclosed controversy, apparently concerning his inclusion of “anything gay” within the drama department’s productions.
In March 2023, Badger posted the following on his Instagram with a partial picture of an email depicting a threat to him:
“For the record: I didn’t get fired, but someone wants to fire a gun at me, and they’ve said so very explicitly. I didn’t resign, but I did tell admin[instration] that I will not be coming back after this year. I won’t be on campus for a while, but I will finish out the year,” wrote Badger. “To those who have been kind and welcoming to us over the years: thank you. To those who let bigotry and pointless political divisions cloud your judgement: grow up. To those who have mocked, gossiped, and threatened: go f**k yourselves.”
Badger then moved on to teaching at THMS.
In a February 2024 post depicting the “second annual drag show” at THMS, Badger shared his satisfaction with THMS tolerance to LGBTQ+ ideologies for minors. That drag show was sponsored by the school’s Q Space club. Q Space clubs encourage students to adopt LGBTQ+ identities and ideologies.
“Interesting to see such an event proceeding with full support of the school’s administration,” wrote Badger. “For years I wondered what that would be like, and now I know: it’s super normal.”
The THMS Q Space club advisor is a transgender man, Sunday (formerly April) Hamilton. It was Hamilton and another former THMS counselor, Zobella Brazil Vinik, who began organizing THMS drag shows featuring the high schoolers. Vinik was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2022.
According to various posts on his Instagram page, Badger was a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, along with mainstream progressive ideologies: Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, LGBTQ+ ideologies, and abortion.
In another post in the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Badger expressed his fear of Donald Trump winning the presidency and his belief that the government would murder him and his family under a Trump administration.
“Trump will win this election, and fascism will take hold in America. Nothing matters, and nothing can be done,” wrote Badger. “When you come to kill me, please don’t let my wife and children see. When you come to kill my wife and children, please don’t let them see it coming. #notkidding #thesearethestakes.”
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