Pearl City substitute teacher remains jailed on pornography charges

A federal judge has ordered that Alden Bunag, a 33-year-old Pearl City High School substitute teacher charged with distribution of child pornography, be held in custody.

Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield this morning followed the recommendation of pretrial services officials and what Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Perlmutter presented, to detain him “because of the danger to the community posed by Mr. Bunag.”

Perlmutter told the court that according to pretrial services ‘there are no combination of conditions that would sufficiently protect the public from danger.’

She also told the judge that Bunag could pose a flight risk because he has ties to the Philippines, where his family has recently traveled.

Bunag, who has worked in various positions in the Department of Education system for 10 years, appeared by telephone this morning from the Federal Detention Center in a telephonic hearing in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

Bunag’s court-appointed attorney Jacquelyn Esser said he was submitting himself for detention, but asked to reserve the right to be released to his parents (who are on a trip) as third-party custodians.

Bunag has no prior criminal record or even an arrest, is fully employed and has strong ties to the community, she said.

Bunag said in online chats with another teacher that he had sex during lunch breaks at school with a 13-year-old boy, who was his former student, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. He also admitted to FBI agents he used camera equipment to record multiple “sexual encounters” with the 13-year-old, according to the complaint. In Hawaii, the age of consent is 16 years old.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled June 27.

Honolulu FBI agents were notified about Bunag by Philadelphia FBI agents investigating a male middle school teacher in Philadelphia, who allegedly from 2018 to 2021 had been exchanging more than 3,392 messages with Bunag, including hundreds of pornographic images and videos of children.

FBI agents executed a search warrant June 15 at Bunag’s home, then arrested Bunag later that day at a high school where he was working as a summer school teacher. He was also charged that day, according to the complaint.

Bunag has been a substitute teacher with the Hawaii Department of Education since 2017 in the Leeward District, the DOE said in an email response to questions concerning Bunag. He has worked with the DOE in various positions since 2012.

A DOE spokeswoman said he is currently not a salaried employee, but was most recently a part-time temporary teacher at Pearl City High School, where he held a permanent secondary teaching position from 2020 to 2021. And from 2016 to 2017, he was a part-time temporary teacher at Ilima Intermediate School.

No information was provided on what subjects he taught.

When asked whether the DOE’s vetting process is more stringent when hiring for permanent teachers than for substitute teachers, DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani responded in an email: “The Department conducts detailed background checks on all applicants prior to employment.”

Bunag also taught dance and ran a photography business under the names amb.creativemedia or alden.alternatemedia, taking senior high school and family photographs, according to information obtained by the FBI.