A volunteer tutor for two San Diego County schools pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a felony possession of child pornography charge, the San Diego District Attorney confirmed to NBC7.
Spring Valley resident Gary Alan Dallmann, 69, is accused of storing child pornography on electronic devices he kept inside his home which is located in the 300 block of Kempton Street within the retirement community of Mount Miguel Covenant Village.
The judge allowed Dallmann to remain free on his posted $20,000 bail.
The sheriff’s department said deputies were first called to Dallmann’s home on Oct. 27 after his caregiver reported finding what appeared to be explicit material involving children on his computer.
On Nov. 4, detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce served an arrest warrant at his home and found child pornography on his electronic devices, official said.
On Saturday, NBC 7 reached out to Mount Miguel Covenant Village for comment on the case. The retirement community released this statement to NBC 7:
“We are aware of the criminal allegations lodged against a resident of our community. We are cooperating with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department on this matter.”
"However, due to the nature of this case, we are refraining from any comment on this matter, and will have no further comment. The individual involved is no longer residing in our community. To ensure the privacy of our residents, we will not provide news media access to our campus,” the statement continued.
According to the SDSO, Dallmann was a volunteer tutor for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and worked at both La Presa Middle School and Kempton Elementary School – a campus located less than a half-mile away from his home.
Officials said Dallmann was dismissed as a volunteer after the school district was alerted of the investigation.
Detectives are trying to determine whether the evidence they found in Dallmann’s possession included children from the schools where the accused volunteered.
Dallmann will next appear in court on Dec. 8 for a readiness conference and Jan. 13 for a preliminary hearing.
