David Allen Damian has been indicted on several counts of sending child pornography over the Internet - but it took a newspaper article for the 17-year-old high school student, his principal, and his attorney to learn of the charges, says the Arizona Republic.
And the paper says the only ones who seem to have known - police and prosecutors - refuse to divulge details about the indictments.
Damian is facing six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor 15 years or younger, and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor 15 or younger, the Republic says. Court documents indicate he sent child porn from seven Web sites to an undercover Phoenix detective several times in May.
But the boy was said to be in shock over the accusations. "I was completely caught by surprise," he told the Republic. "I haven't been served any court papers. I just read the article in the newspaper." He had not been arrested as of Thursday, the newspaper says, while one police detective says the report is "restricted" and would not elaborate.
His attorney, though, predicts Damian won't be convicted of the charges. But he did not say why he felt that way.
Chaparral High School principal John Kriekard was also caught off guard by the news, the Republic says. He told the paper an assistant principal told him after reading the Republic story about the case Thursday. And he says the senior won't be in trouble at school, since he was assured there's no school connection in the case.
Other students at the school, though, told the paper the Damian case was a hot topic of conversation at school, with some saying they'd learned he was in trouble over Net porn and that they were bothered by how someone so young might be involved.
