LEHI, Utah — Investigators with the Lehi Police Department have arrested a man for allegedly enticing minors online and sending harmful materials to a minor. According to police, the suspect, 40-year-old John Royal Belliston, claimed to have previously worked for two different school districts in Utah.
Court documents obtained by FOX 13 News reveal that detectives with the Lehi Police Department were conducting an undercover chat investigation posing as a 13-year-old on social media. Police say Belliston made a post saying, "Who wants to come play with a teacher?"
The officer, posing as a 13-year-old, contacted Belliston, who, through the conversation, revealed he taught grades 10 through 12. Belliston also reportedly stated that he wanted to play through any teacher sexual fantasies.
When asked, the undercover detective told Belliston that he was talking to a 13-year-old, to which he reportedly replied, "I'm forty... which makes your age kinda hot." Belliston would then send an explicit picture to the child.
Investigators say when the topic of Belliston being a teacher came up, he was asked if he had ever done anything with his students. Belliston allegedly replied, "I have not," but then confessed to pleasuring himself in the faculty room of the school to the thought of his students.
Court documents say that investigators were able to confirm that Belliston worked for two different school districts in Utah. FOX 13 News has confirmed that Belliston did in fact work for the Canyon School District, having started as a custodial worker and moving up to being a para-educator before he resigned in 2017. A search on Transparent Utah shows records for a John Belliston working for the Canyon School District from 2014 to 2017.
However, also listed are employments from the Jordan School District and the Alpine School District. FOX 13 News reached out to both districts to confirm that Belliston was a former employee. The districts were only able to state that he was not currently working for them.
John Royal Belliston is being held without bail.
