Colorado teacher made students undress as punishment, according to arrest affidavit

A teacher was arrested last week on 22 felony charges including sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact and obscenity — and Parker police believe he may have more victims.

Christopher John Ballard, 26, was arrested after Parker police, with assistance from the Lakewood Police Department, executed a search warrant at his home in the 600 block of Alkire Street in Lakewood, according to a news release from the Parker Police Department.

Ballard started working as a teacher (referred to as a “guide”) with middle school-aged children at the Journey Academy in Centennial in May 2021 and was also known to visit Journey Life Center in southern Jefferson County.

A parent and owner of Journey Academy reported the abuse to Parker police on March 2. The parent said he heard from other parents that Ballard was allegedly touching students, showing them pornography and making them undress as a punishment, according to the arrest affidavit from the Parker Police Department.

The parent allegedly confirmed this information with their child before calling Ballard, according to the affidavit. Police said in the affidavit that Ballard confirmed that he “engaged inappropriately with a couple of (students)” and proceeded to describe his actions while speaking with the parent.

He allegedly admitted to forcing students to undress and sexually abusing and showing pornographic images to several students, police said. According to the affidavit, he also forced students to record child pornography.

During the initial stage of this investigation, two additional victims were identified.