A male teacher at Sierra Vista Middle School in Irvine, California, who was identified as Eric Reid Zuercher was arrested on January 5, 2025, when he tried to meet with a 14-year-old boy for sex.
The suspected 44-year-old pedophile was caught on video by People V. Preds, an organization that catches online pedophiles, whom they refer to as predators that prey on children.
Just like Vitaly exposing pedophile Hollywood director C. Jay Cox, the anti-pedophile group who had been trailing Zuercher set him up with the identity of the 14-year-old. The video below has screenshots of some chat conversations which was sexually based. In the chat, the school teacher asked the supposedly minor if he was into gay sex and at a point told him he wanted to “suck him off”.
On the day of their appointment, while Zuercher was waiting for the boy outside his door, he was accosted by an adult. He quickly entered his home and slammed the door shut.
The group works in hand with law enforcement who came to his home and arrested him on suspicion of attempting to talk a minor into engaging in sexual activity. He was subsequently remanded in the Orange County jail.
While the case is being investigated further, the Irvine Police Department (IPD) is checking if the long-time teacher had previously had any inappropriate contact or sexual relations with any of the students at Sierra Vista Middle School. The school currently has almost 1,200 students.
Information released by the City of Irvine from the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) says there was no record or claim of inappropriate contact with any of the students. He is currently on administrative leave.
The authorities are also calling on the public for any information that can help them with the case.
