Former Concord High School teacher Joshua Harwood pleaded guilty to soliciting sexually explicit videos from an underage Concord High student in exchange for money in 2019.
Harwood, 38, appeared in Merrimack Superior Court Wednesday, with his defense attorney, Elroy Sequeira, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of human trafficking and a charge of manufacture of child sexual abuse images.
The human trafficking charge stems from a March 2019 incident where Harwood solicited a sexually-explicit live video session from an underage Concord High student in exchange for $15 which was paid via Venmo, according to Deputy County Attorney George Waldron. The manufacturing charge stems from a March 2019 incident where Harwood allegedly solicited a sexually explicit pre-recorded video from theย minor.
Harwood could avoid a long prison sentence if a judge agrees to the terms agreed upon by Sequeira and Waldron. The resolution includes a sentence of three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for the trafficking charge that may be suspended upon completion of a sex offender program, and a consecutive sentence of seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison for the manufacturing charge, which may be suspended for 10 years upon good behavior with requirements that include no contact with the victim as well as no unsupervised contact with minor males.
Although the resolution has already been negotiated, the sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 19 to allow Harwood time to get his affairs in order and to allow the victim time to write a statement, according to Sequeira. Judge John Kissinger, who presided over the hearing, approved.
โI have no problems with the resolution thatโs being proposed here,โ Kissinger said.
Harwood was hired by the Concord School District in July 2020 and worked for five months teaching business classes, including Money Management, Economics, and Entrepreneurship.
Police were notified about allegations of inappropriate online activity and past physical activity in December 2020 when the victim reported the behavior to a school administrator. Harwood was placed on administrative leave and banned from school property at that time. Before coming to Concord, Harwood worked at Southern New Hampshire University from January 2016 to April 2019, when prosecutors say he was fired after an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct involving a college student.