Irvine teacher arrested for alleged sexual conversation with minor

The Irvine Police Department (IPD) arrested Irvine middle school teacher Eric Reid Zuercher for attempting to meet with a minor to “engage in sexual activity” according to an IPD news release. Zuercher was arrested from his residence and booked into the Orange County Jail on Jan. 6.

Zuercher, a math teacher at Sierra Vista Middle School within the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD), was reported to IPD on Jan. 5 by a group of adult individuals who exposed the online criminal behavior. The group, who had disguised themselves as a 14-year-old boy, allegedly had online conversations with Zuercher that became “sexually explicit,” according to the IPD news release. The group told police that Zuercher asked the minor about meeting in person, and an individual from the group briefly confronted Zuercher at his residence. Upon receiving the report, IPD officers obtained a warrant to search Zuercher’s residence and arrested the teacher.

A video titled “PVP CATCH 478” and captioned “ERIC Z FROM IRVINE MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHER” posted by Instagram user @timjohnson.458 appears to show the confrontation with Zuercher. The video appears to capture Zuercher standing outside of a residence as the individual recording asks Zuercher to “have a conversation,” adding “I can either call the school if you want” as Zuercher returns inside the residence. The video has over 945,000 views.

The video was posted by the People v. Preds group, which aims to “catch online preds [predators] that prey on children” by posing as minors in online interactions with adults and reporting inappropriate conduct to local police. The organization posts videos of confrontations with alleged suspects and screenshots of online conversations to their social media. 

Zuercher, 44, began teaching at Sierra Vista Middle School in 2003 according to his social media. Officials do not believe that Zuercher had “inappropriate contact” with any IUSD students at this time. 

In a written statement, the school district confirmed that Zuercher was immediately placed on administrative leave and is not permitted to contact IUSD students.

“The Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) takes these allegations seriously and is fully cooperating with the Irvine Police Department’s (IPD) investigation,” IUSD wrote in an email obtained by New University. “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students.”

A similar instance occurred in September 2024, where former Irvine teacher Siu Kong Sit was sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison for possession of child sexual abuse material. According to his plea agreement, Sit placed hidden cameras in bathrooms at Beckman High School beginning in 2020 to view and download videos of minors while employed as a teacher. Officials discovered hundreds of images and videos of child pornography in Sit’s possession.

The investigation into Zuercher is currently ongoing. Those with information relevant to the case are requested to contact IPD Detective Brian Felling at bfelling@cityofirvine.org

Beatrice Lee is a 2024-2025 Assistant News Editor. She can be reached at beatrirl@uci.edu.

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