Leon Dyer, a former Belmont Middle School teacher who was arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, made his first court appearance since his arraignment in July.
On Thursday, Sept. 16, his pretrial date was set for Nov. 5. Dyer’s attorney Richard Sweeney and the commonwealth agreed Dyer did not have to attend the next hearing.
On July 25, police arrested and charged Dyer after a search warrant led to the discovery of child sexual abuse images on his Google Drive, according to prosecutors. A second search led police to additional images on Dyer’s phone.
In July, Massachusetts State Police received a report dated Jan. 1, 2026 from CyberTipline, which is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, regarding reports it received from Google for images saved in his Google Drive that violated the state’s law pertaining to child sexual abuse material. One image found on his drive appeared to be generated by AI, documents showed.
Initially, Dyer told police his devices had been hacked, but later admitted to downloading the images.
Dyer is no longer employed by Belmont Public Schools, Superintendent Jill Geiser confirmed.
Because he was a technology teacher, Dyer’s school devices “contained many files and photographs, most of which were created or submitted by students or provided by outside photographers,” according to district leaders. According to Geiser, the state and district have found “no evidence that these photographs are compromised or that Belmont students have been affected.”
