Ex-teacher charged with child porn now indicted in sex assault

An Oahu grand jury Friday indicted a former Oahu public school teacher on charges of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and promoting child abuse.

Alden Bunag, 33, was charged June 15 in federal court with distribution of child pornography but was not charged with sexual assault since that did not fall under federal jurisdiction.

However, the federal complaint reveals Bunag, in online chats with a Philadelphia teacher, said he had sex with a 13-year-old former student during lunch breaks at school. He also said he used camera equipment to record multiple “sexual encounters” with the boy.

The state indictment charges him with three counts of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 for allegedly engaging in three or more sexual acts from Aug. 1, 2016, to Sept. 27, 2017.

According to the state Department of Education, Bunag worked from 2016 to 2017 as a part-time temporary teacher at Ilima Intermediate School. He had been a substitute teacher since 2017 in the Leeward District and had worked in various positions since 2012.

He was most recently a part-time temporary teacher at Pearl City High School, where he had held a permanent secondary teaching position from 2020 to 2021.

According to information obtained by the FBI, Bunag also taught dance and ran a photography business under the names amb.creative media and alden.alternatemedia, taking senior high school and family photographs.

The indictment also charges him with promotion of child abuse for allegedly producing or participating in the preparation of child pornography from Aug. 1, 2016, to Sept. 27, 2017.

The indictment identifies by initials the child used in the pornography allegedly created by Bunag as the same minor he allegedly sexually assaulted. The indictment said the then- minor was born in 2003 and turned 18 in 2021, making him 19 this year.

The promotion of child abuse charges allege Bunag possessed and disseminated child pornography from Nov. 10, 2019, to June 15, 2022.

The Oahu grand jury issued a no-contact order for the duration of the case as to the then-minor identified by initials. It also set Bu­nag’s bail at $250,000.

Bunag has been in custody at the Federal Detention Center since June 21, when a federal magistrate ordered him held pending trial.

The federal complaint said Philadelphia FBI agents investigating a male middle school teacher in Philadelphia notified Honolulu FBI agents that the Philadelphia educator and Bunag had exchanged more than 3,392 messages, including hundreds of pornographic images and videos of children.

A federal grand jury indicted Bunag on June 23 on one count of distribution of child pornography, alleging he knowingly distributed child pornography from November 2019 through at least October 2021 in Hawaii and elsewhere.

A jury trial is set for Jan. 24 in federal court before Judge Susan Oki Mollway.