California music teacher, 61, filmed himself ejaculating into flutes and made elementary school girls play them
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA: A music teacher who allegedly gave semen-tainted flutes to elementary school students has agreed to plead guilty. John Edward Zeretzke will plead guilty to state and federal charges involving several sex crimes against children, authorities said on Wednesday, July 1.
According to reports, the 61-year-old accused, who formed Flutes Across the World in 2009 and has worked with thousands of children across the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of the production of child pornography. He will also plead guilty to six state charges of lewd acts with a minor under 14, court records stated. This comes after Zeretzke pleaded not guilty to the state charges in April 2019. He has been accused by the state attorneys of recording himself ejaculating into flutes that were then distributed to five minor girls at elementary schools across Los Angeles and Orange counties, The Orange County Register reported. The suspect also allegedly took the pictures of the minor girls using flutes. As per the court records, the alleged crimes took place between January and April 2017.
Reports also stated that in June 2018, federal charges were brought against Zeretzke that include five counts of sex crimes against children. It has been said that the children involved in the federal charges are not local. The accused’s lawyer, Julia Brett Deixler, did not respond to the plea deal. The federal charges have given a detail of the crimes that Zeretzke allegedly committed. According to the indictment, the teacher was in contact with a girl under 16 years old from November 6, 2015, to May 28, 2016. He allegedly expressed romantic interest in the minor, and also sent money to her via relatives in the Philippines in exchange of sexually explicit images of her.
The official document also stated that when on November 7, 2015, the girl expressed her desire to lose her virginity on her upcoming 16th birthday, Zeretzke allegedly said, “he had always wanted to have sex with a virgin and wished he could be that person” for her. He also allegedly sent eight photos of himself having sex with his ex-girlfriend to the victim, and the following day, 34 explicit pictures of himself.
In addition, during a Facebook chat, Zeretzke allegedly told the victim that he wanted to see a photo of her private parts and gave a detailed description of how he would like to have sex with her. The official charges have also mentioned that Zeretzke had traveled to the Philippines between August 2017 to September 2017 to have sex with an individual who was 12 to 16 years old and received child pornography through his Facebook account.
Zeretzke was expected to plead guilty on June 16 in the U.S. District Court, but due to Covid-19, his hearing has been delayed until October 20. It has been said if found guilty of the federal charges, Zeretzke would face 15 to 30 years in prison. He also must be required to register as a sex offender. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors have said that the sentence of Zeretzke should run concurrently with any sentence imposed by the state.