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After a viral TikTok video created by an anti-crime group spurred an investigation, a Tustin Unified educator was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 23, on suspicion of contacting a minor with intent to commit sexual assault, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.
Authorities were first made aware of Roger Kavigan, 55, after the video was sent to authorities by a resident of unincorporated Santa Ana, according to OCSD spokesperson Jaimee Blashaw. The video, which was posted Nov. 19, shows a person confronting Kavigan about alleged misconduct with a minor.
After reviewing the video, Blashaw said OCSD’s special victims unit became involved and later uncovered a series of texts between Kavigan and someone he believed was a minor. Kavigan was arrested around 10:30 a.m. at his Long Beach home Wednesday on felony charges, Blashaw added.
In an email sent Nov. 20 to Tustin Unified families, school district Superintendent Mark Johnson said the administration was aware of the investigation into Kavigan, a teacher at Foothill High School, and was cooperating with law enforcement. Additionally, Johnson said the district had received “new evidence” that was passed on to authorities.
“We have no information to suggest the allegations are related to the employee’s official duties as a teacher or that the alleged misconduct took place on campus,” Johnson said in the email. Kavigan was put on paid administrative leave, according to school officials.
The TikTok video, which had more than 10,000 likes as of Wednesday, was posted by a user known as “peoplevpreds1.0.”
In the video, an unidentified speaker questions Kavigan about an alleged conversation between him and a minor. The speaker in the video alleges Kavigan approached his “little brother” outside his apartment complex and sent him a sunset picture. It was not clear when or where the video was taken, or whether the speaker in the video and the owner of the TikTok account were affiliated.
“I didn’t do anything,” Kavigan said in the video.
The “peoplevpreds1.0” TikTok account is part of a groundswell of online vigilante groups that use social media to publicly identify alleged sexual predators. Their tactics include texting adults while purporting to be underaged and filming confrontations.
As of Wednesday evening, Kavigan was being held at Orange County Jail with bail set at $100,000. He is next due in court Nov. 29, according to jail records.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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