GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former Grand Rapids teacher will spend 35 years in prison for trying to persuade a minor to send him nude photos.
Philip Paauwe, 33, admitted to trying to get a Florida girl to send him the pictures and pleaded guilt to a charge of coercion and enticement of a minor. He was caught by messaging an undercover officer who he thought was the mother of a 13-year-old girl for permission to engage in sexual acts with the teen.
Investigators say he used his position as a special education teacher to help him relate to victims and further exploit them.
Paauwe was fired from his teaching position for Grand Rapids Public Schools, where he taught special education at the Kent Education Center for less than a year.
