Upstate police say teacher sent Webcam images

Two months before he was arrested in Asheville on charges of soliciting a minor over the Internet, a North Henderson High School teacher was being investigated for graphic online chats with Greenville, S.C., detectives posing as young teenagers.

David Frank Pace, 57, of 68 Hog Rock Road, was arrested July 7 in Asheville and charged with soliciting a child by using a computer. Authorities in Greenville, S.C., have charged Pace with four counts of criminal solicitation of a minor, for which he could receive 40 years in prison. Guilford County has charged him with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor.

Pace, originally jailed under a $90,000 secured bond, had his bond increased to $190,000 after the charges from Guilford County were brought. He remained jailed in Asheville on Thursday.

S.C. chats started in April

Greenville, S.C., Police Detective Rick Floyd said in an interview Thursday he had been chatting online with Pace since April 25. Pace was chatting online with police officers who identified themselves as minors, said the detective, who is a member of the S.C. Attorney General’s Office Task Force on child sexual offenses.

Floyd said that Pace had scheduled a time to meet with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl in Greenville the day he was arrested in Buncombe County.

Posing as a minor, Floyd chatted with Pace on April 25, May 20, May 29 and June 10.

Floyd said that during the May 29 communication, Pace exposed himself using a Webcam from his home.

“During our chats, Mr. Pace made comments that he loved chatting with young girls,” Floyd said. “He said where he was from and told me he was a teacher.”

Floyd said the investigation swung into high gear when he found out Pace was a teacher who was around children every day. “While we chatted he asked, ‘Do you ever touch yourself?’ and “Do you need someone to teach you about sex?’,” Floyd said.

The chats consisted of graphic sexual language, he said.

Awaiting a decision

Floyd said that Pace has not been served the four warrants from South Carolina yet.

“We are awaiting news from Buncombe County,” Floyd said. Buncombe County authorities are still deciding if Pace will be charged on the state or federal level. “In South Carolina, our state law generates more time for a criminal soliciting sex online,” he said. “In North Carolina the state laws are not as strong and that may be why they are considering federal charges.” Detective C.L. Overcash from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that her investigation into Pace began June 13.

Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes announced last week that Pace, David Brian Seus and Kevin Samuel had all been charged with soliciting a minor for sex after a police sting. Barnes said the men thought they were talking to young teenage girls but were actually talking to deputies.

Authorities have said that two of the suspects contacted a deputy posing as a 13-year-old girl, and a third contacted another deputy posing as a 14-year-old girl.