Retired Christian school teacher faces charges of child enticement; extradited to Idaho
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IDAHO FALLS — A retired Christian school teacher from Ohio was arrested and brought to Idaho after a police operation found he had allegedly asked an undercover officer for explicit photos.
Hendrik Willem Beun, 70s, of Apple Creek, Ohio, is facing one felony count of enticing a child through the use of the internet or other communication device.
Idaho’s Crime Repository lists Beun’s public defender as Allen Browning. EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Browning for a comment and was told he cannot discuss information about this case.
According to court documents, on April 19, a detective with Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was assigned to investigate a man who was actively attempting to talk with minors online.
The detective created a profile, using the identity of a fake 14-year-old girl, on the social media app Twiq. The account requires users to be at least 18 years of age.
Upon creating the account, the detective began to receive multiple messages from other users.
One user who messaged the account told the detective they were 70 years old and asked how old they were, to which the detective responded with a teenager’s age.
The conversation went on, and the man asked where the fake account was from and was told it was from Idaho.
The man asked the fake account to send a selfie, and one was sent of a manipulated female officer. The man then sent a selfie, which was later used to identify him as Beun.
Knowing Beun’s identity, the task force began to look into the background of the 70-year-old and learned he is a retired social studies teacher from Central Christian School in Kidron, Ohio. He retired from the school in 2022.
The man has no criminal history.
The conversation between Beun and the fake girl went on for a few weeks, during which Beun began to ask inappropriate questions, such as the type of underwear she wears and how her body is growing, particularly in her private areas.
Beun also sent instructions to the fake girl on how to masturbate and to send him photos.
On May 26, during a conversation, Beun sent a photo of himself in his underwear to the fake girl and asked the account to send him a photo in return.
After back-and-forth messages with the detective using stock images of people wearing revealing attire, Beun sent a photo of his genitals.
A warrant was obtained for Beun’s arrest on May 29, and he was brought to Idaho, where he had his initial court appearance on June 15.
Beun is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. on June 26 before Magistrate Judge Wiley Dennert.
Though Beun has been charged with this crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty. If he is found guilty, he faces up to 15 years in prison.