CONCORD, NH — A former Concord High School business teacher, who previously was fired from Southern New Hampshire University for inappropriate texts he sent to a college student, is being held without bail on 17 counts of prostitution and manufacturing child pornography involving a high school student.
Joshua Harwood, 38, of Vinton Street in Manchester, on Friday waived formal arraignment in Merrimack County Superior Court, via video from the Merrimack County jail, of the felony charges which include eight counts of manufacturing child abuse images and nine counts of prostitution.
“He is no longer with us,” said Larry Prince, director of Human Resources for SAU8, the Concord school district, of Harwood’s employment. Harwood was hired as a business teacher in August 2020 after passing an FBI interstate background test.
On his resume, Harwood said he had “served the term of his contract” as for why he left employment at SNHU, Prince said.
Prince said he also had numerous letters of reference “all glowing.” SNHU made no mention of why Harwood was terminated when an assistant high school principal contacted college officials about his employment.
The school district would not have “pursued his candidacy” if they were made aware of why he was terminated, Prince said.
“There was no red flag,” he said. “It is very unfortunate. Legally, he had a clean record.”
However, a statement issued on Feb. 6 by SNHU disputes the claim made by SU8 about glowing references for Harwood.
“We can confirm that Joshua Harwood began working at SNHU on January 17, 2016 and was terminated from his position on April 16, 2019. Per university policy, we cannot provide additional details of Harwood’s cause for termination. However, over the past two days, SNHU reviewed all university records and can confirm that no SNHU administrative official provided a reference or recommendation for Harwood. SNHU takes these matters seriously, and if an SNHU official was contacted the university would not have recommended that Harwood teach in any capacity. SNHU will cooperate with authorities on the ongoing investigation as needed.”
According to court complaints and the sworn affidavit of Detective Mark Schneible, police were called Dec. 16, 2020, to the high school concerning allegations from a former student that Harwood solicited nude images from him when he was a minor.
The former student, who is now 18, told police that on Dec. 16, 2020, he was contacted on social media side Grindr by an individual posing as a junior at Concord High School. The communication was from a blank Grindr profile but the teen, who was at home, could see from the app that the person was within 2,000 feet of his residence. The teen lives in the vicinity of the high school.
A police review of Harwood’s electronic devices showed that on Dec. 16, 2020, Harwood accessed Grindr via Concord High School’s wireless network four times in the afternoon from his iPhone.
The teen said he became concerned about the individual’s age and ended the conversation. However, prior to that, he gave the individual his Instagram account information, so he could follow the teen on that platform.
Within 20 minutes of the conversation ending, Harwood contacted the teen via Instagram and asked for nude photographs and for him to engage in sexual acts, according to court documents.
The teen said in a live communication with Harwood, he saw the teacher sitting at a desk with a red and blue map of the United States on a bulletin board behind him. Harwood told the teen he couldn’t continue on live video because he was at work. The teen told police he believed Harwood was the same person who posed as the Concord High School junior on Grindr.
The teen said Harwood used his legitimate Instagram account to communicate with him and he was able to see that Harwood also posted information pertaining to Concord High School events. Harwood’s profile on Instagram also identified him as a teacher, married and the father of two. Seeing that, the teen “googled” Harwood and learned from the Concord High School website that he was employed there as a teacher.
He then alerted the school’s administration.
It was not the first time the teen had communicated with Harwood. The two had had sexual encounters dating back to Jan. 5, 2019, when Harwood met up with the teen, who was then 16 and a junior at Concord High School, at his home, according to police. Harwood allegedly performed fellatio on the teen in exchange for $42. Harwood paid the teen through his Venmo account.
Between Jan. 2019 through Dec. 16, 2020, Harwood periodically contacted the teen through social media – Grindr, Instagram, Snapchat – requesting photos and videos that were sexual in nature. The teen would masturbate on a live video feed while Harwood watched, Detective Schneible wrote in his affidavit. The teen said the application he used allowed him to see Harwood’s face, but he minimized the feed so he would not have to look at him. The teen referred to those instances as “sessions.”
He estimated Harwood paid him about $900 in 40 Venmo transactions.
Assistant Merrimack County Attorney Molly Lovell asked Judge John C. Kissinger to order Harwood held in preventive detention for the safety of the community.
She said on the morning of Dec. 9, 2020, while at work at the high school Harwood exchange explicit photos in text messages with another individual who was not underage.
She said he was terminated from SNHU in 2019 for sending explicit images of himself from his office to a college student and inviting the student to engage in sexual acts. Harwood said he was innocent and maintained he had been hacked but the university upheld his termination on appeal, according to Lovell.
Defense attorney Andrew Winters argued for personal recognizance bail saying Harwood has no criminal history. He said Harwood is originally from Sutton, has lived most of his life in New Hampshire, is married, owns a home with his wife, has a master’s degree from SNHU in business education and is working on his Ph.D.
He said there is no court finding as to SNHU and said the student was not a minor.
Kissinger ordered Harwood detained and said, “to say these allegations are very troubling would be an understatement.”
He noted the charges laid out a number of instances of payment for sex acts with minors and the creation of child abuse images on numerous occasions.
Kissinger said those allegations, as well as Harwood recently posing as a minor in order to engage in sex acts for money with a former Concord High School student, is clear and convincing evidence he is a danger to the community. There are no conditions or combination of conditions that would ensure the community’s safety, the judge said.
Kissinger also said there is “no way for me to meaningfully control” Harwood’s access to the internet.
He set a further evidentiary hearing concerning bail is set for Feb. 9 at 2:30 p.m.
