Ex-Smyrna Teacher Loses Bid to Toss Indictment on Child Sex Charges

Joshua Rutherford

WILMINGTON, Del.– Joshua Rutherford pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to have a minor have sex with him in Delaware.

Rutherford, 37, of Camden-Wyoming and Newark, Del., and a former teacher at Smyrna High School, pleaded guilty before Judge Gregory M. Sleet.

According to statements made in court, Rutherford responded to an online advertisement posted by an undercover detective with Delaware State Police looking for men who were interested in incest with minor children.

Using a mobile chat application, Rutherford responded to the advertisement and communicated with the undercover detective for almost a month. In those conversations, Rutherford expressed his desire to see nude pictures of a girl he believed to be 14-years-old.

According to court hearings, Rutherford expressed his willingness to have sexual intercourse with the same minor while her father watched and Rutherford demanded that the father have sexual contact with the minor first – while Rutherford watched – in order to prove that the father was not a member of law enforcement. Then, prosecutors say Rutherford scheduled a time to meet the man he believed to be the father and the 14-year-old girl for the purpose of having sex with her.

Authorities arrested Rutherford when he arrived at the meeting.

Rutherford is being detained until sentencing where he faces 10 years in prison. He also faces a term of supervised release following imprisonment and will be required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school. Sentencing is scheduled for June 19 at 2 p.m.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham L. Robinson is prosecuting the case.

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