SEQUIM — A Sequim schoolteacher awaiting Clallam County Superior Court trial on six counts of sexual exploitation of minors faced federal charges Thursday.
Dennis Eugene Peterson, 49, appeared in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on four counts of manufacturing pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
Judge J. Kelly Arnold remanded Peterson to federal custody pending a bail hearing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.
Sequim Police Chief Byron Nelson said Peterson is now considered “a flight risk.”‘
“There is a concern he might try to leave the area,” Nelson said. “We believe Mr. Peterson is a sexual predator and a threat to the community.”
A teacher in the Sequim Community School Alternative Education Program, Peterson was arrested Jan. 22 after female students provided Sequim police with information indicating that he wanted them to pose nude.
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