A former Wylie East High School assistant principal has been arrested and charged with federal child exploitation violations after prosecutors say he contacted two minors through social media and messaging apps.
Zachary Christian Neu, 32, of Richardson, was named in a federal indictment charging him with two counts of enticement of a minor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced Wednesday.
Neu appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Aileen Durrett on June 17, prosecutors said. Federal court records show the indictment was returned June 10 in the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
Neu was an assistant principal at Wylie East High School at the time of the alleged offenses, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges Neu contacted one minor shortly after she graduated from Wylie East High School on May 23. Prosecutors say he continued messaging her after she told him she was not yet 18.
Wylie police later became involved, and a detective communicated with Neu in an undercover capacity after receiving consent from the girl’s mother to assume her online identity, according to the indictment.
Neu was arrested June 4 after police said he provided a meeting location and was followed from Wylie East High School toward that location, court records show.
A second alleged victim was identified after Neu’s arrest when her mother contacted Wylie police after seeing news coverage of the case, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege Neu began messaging the girl around March on TikTok before the conversations moved to text messages.
Law enforcement later found messages on Neu’s cellphone corroborating interactions with both minors, according to the indictment.
The case was investigated by the Wylie Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Calli Bailey is prosecuting the case.
A request for comment left with Neu’s attorney was not immediately returned on Thursday afternoon.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.