UPDATED July 21.
Another Belton Independent School District teacher has been accused of sex crimes involving children.
Belton High School teacher Pietro Victor Giustino, 39, was arrested on federal charges of possessing and attempting to possess child sexual abuse material, including depictions of minors engaged in sexual intercourse.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.
Giustino has worked for Belton ISD as a high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) teacher since 2011, according to his LinkedIn page.
State records show Giustino has been certified to teach science since 2011. His current teaching certificate is under review by the Texas Education Agency.
In 2022, Giustino was named Belton ISD’s Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year.
The FBI is investigating Giustino with assistance from the Belton Police Department and cooperation from Belton ISD.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Federal authorities arrested Giustino on July 17 following a June grand jury indictment.
“We were contacted today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Antonio Field Office that a Belton High School employee, Pietro Giustino, has been arrested for possession of child pornography,” Belton ISD Superintendent Malinda Golden wrote in a statement released on July 16.
According to Golden, there was no indication that any students are involved in the charges or that this occurred on district property. However, Giustino has traveled off-campus with students to school-related events.
After discussing the matter in closed session during Monday night’s school board meeting, Belton ISD trustees voted 6-0 to terminate Giustino’s contract.
Several other Belton ISD teachers have been arrested in recent years for child sex crimes including sexual assault and possession of child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornography.
Two were arrested in March: Tarver Elementary School teacher Estevan Banda, charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact involving a fourth grade student, and South Belton Middle School teacher Logan Demeny, charged with sexually assaulting an underage student multiple times in 2021.
Also this year, former Lake Belton High School athletic trainer Trevor Swift was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material featuring victims as young as five years old or younger. Swift was arrested in 2022 after students caught him watching child porn while at school.
In 2020, South Belton Middle School orchestra director Lydia Christensen was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after being convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography showing victims under the age of 12 engaged in sex acts.
Belton High School computer science teacher James Alleman III was arrested in 2018 for having child porn on his school computer after he projected it onto a screen during a class. District officials called it an “inappropriate use of technology.” Alleman pleaded guilty in 2019.
Hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years.
Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the state since the TEA began keeping organized records in 2021.
