A 39-year-old teacher at a Goodyear charter school has been arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators allege he sought out and shared child sexual abuse material online. Samuel Durham Cooper, identified in Maricopa County court filings as an employee of Great Hearts Trivium Preparatory Academy, was booked into county jail as the case moves through the courts.
According to KTAR News, the case began after an online platform flagged a file depicting a child being sexually exploited and notified the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which forwarded the tip to the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force before it reached Goodyear police. That statewide task force is administratively led by the Phoenix Police Department's Family Investigations Bureau, which serves as the clearinghouse for such tips before they are distributed to local agencies, according to City of Phoenix budget records. Detectives then used investigative techniques to identify Cooper as the user believed to have uploaded and shared the material, leading them to obtain search warrants. Cooper's bond was set at $200,000, according to Maricopa County jail records cited by the outlet.
Court Filings Name the School and Add a Third Charge
When Goodyear police first announced the arrest, they did not release the name of the school where Cooper worked. Maricopa County Superior Court documents later identified his employer as Great Hearts Trivium Preparatory Academy, a public charter school on Bullard Avenue serving grades 6 through 12, according to 12News. Those same court filings show Cooper now faces three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one more than the two counts cited when he was initially booked.
Search Warrant Executed as Confession Details Emerge
Officers executed the search warrant at Cooper's home near Estrella Parkway and Van Buren Street, seizing several electronic devices, according to police. The devices remain in the hands of task force investigators pending forensic examination.
The search was carried out on Tuesday, according to 12News. In the same court records, Cooper told investigators after his arrest that he had sought out and posted child sexual abuse material, and he attributed his actions to episodes connected to his bipolar disorder.
Potential Prison Exposure Under Arizona Law
Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-3553, sexual exploitation of a minor is classified as a Class 2 felony that can carry up to 10 years in state prison per count, according to Salwin Law Group. Arizona law treats each individual explicit file or depiction as a potential separate count, meaning the number of charges could grow as the material recovered from Cooper's devices is fully analyzed.
If forensic analysis were to identify any depictions involving children under 15, Arizona's dangerous crimes against children statute would apply, according to Suzuki Law Offices. That law, A.R.S. § 13-705, imposes a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison per count, and Arizona courts often order those sentences to run consecutively.
A Campus With Military Ties and a Difficult Past
Great Hearts Trivium Preparatory Academy was named a candidate for Arizona's "Purple Star School" designation in 2023, a recognition tied to support programs the campus built for military-connected families from nearby Luke Air Force Base, according to Cronkite News. The West Valley school also weathered an earlier tragedy: in 2017, a middle school dean and teacher at the campus was fatally shot in Buckeye, leading to murder charges against her husband, 12News reported at the time.
Unanswered Questions as the Case Moves Forward
Arizona law separately requires courts to notify the Arizona State Board of Education and a teacher's employer in writing of any felony conviction, under A.R.S. § 13-3990, according to Justia Law. It remains unclear whether Great Hearts Trivium leadership has taken any administrative action regarding Cooper's employment status, whether additional charges will follow once the forensic review of his devices is complete, or whether the State Board of Education has opened any proceedings over his teaching credentials.
The Goodyear Police Department said it is coordinating with school officials as the investigation continues. Anyone with information is urged to contact Goodyear police at 623-932-1220 or submit an anonymous tip through Silent Witness, which takes English-language tips at 480-WITNESS (948-6377) and Spanish-language tips at 480-TESTIGO (837-8446).
