Missouri educator accused of posing as girl to solicit explicit photos pleads guilty

A former assistant principal in Missouri accused of posing as a teen girl to solicit explicit photos from a boy has pleaded guilty.

Colby Fronterhouse, 41, was the assistant principal at Nixa Junior High School in Nixa in September 2020 when he used a burner phone number to text the 13-year-old boy, whose contact information was accessible in school records, officials said.

Fronterhouse began the conversation posing as a 14-year-old named “Lacey” and asked the boy if he wanted to hang out again, according to a probable cause affidavit. When the boy replied it was a wrong number, Fronterhouse continued the conversation for four days and sent photos of a teen girl in bathing suits or underwear while encouraging the boy to reply with sexual images, the affidavit says.

Investigators traced the burner phone number to Fronterhouse and discovered evidence linking his cell phone to the account, officials said.

Fronterhouse was fired by the Nixa school district in February about 10 days after he was charged.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography. Fronterhouse faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 6:30 PM.