A Minnesota teacher and his husband are both dead in an apparent murder-suicide, after both were placed under investigation for molesting several children. The couple apparently lured in their victims by offering to “mentor” gay youth and instead molesting them.

Until this past month, Aric Babbit was a popular elementary school teacher in South St. Paul who was active in the community. But it all came crashing down two weeks ago, when a teenage boy and his parents went to the police and reported an ongoing sexual relationship between the boy and both Babbit and his husband, Matthew Deyo.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the boy turned over photos of himself naked with Babbit, and said Babbit, his former elementary teacher, had begun “mentoring” him after he came out as gay. Red flags quickly emerged, with Babbit and Deyo providing the boy underwear and yoga shorts as gifts, but the boy’s parents were assuaged by being told it was a “gay thing.” Eventually, the boy was convinced to go to a jazz concert and stay with the couple in a hotel room, where the boy allegedly had sex with them because he was “unsure about how to say no.”

A police investigation quickly discovered additional victims, who said the couple had provided them with pornography, encouraged them to post naked pictures online, and provided them with “chiropractic” massages. According to court documents seen by the Star-Tribune, Babbit and Deyo took kids on a trip to the Twin Cities gay pride festival, where Babbit became angry that a boy wouldn’t have sex with him after he’d spent thousands of dollars on him. (RELATED: Cops Say Teacher Traumatized 17-Year-Old Teen With Oral Sex Romp)

They also found other disturbing pieces of evidence. Notably, a search of their house found a hidden camera behind a clock in the bathroom, along with a computer folder with the decidedly unappealing title “Kiddies.” According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, multiple boys told the police about “strange situations in the bathroom” where Babbit would encourage them to masturbate there, apparently in the hopes of obtaining video.

Babbit and Deyo’s deteriorating situation ended in abrupt, shocking violence. After Babbit was suspended from his teaching job due to the investigation, the two borrowed a neighbor’s shotgun and traveled out to rural Washington, more than a thousand miles away. On Aug. 25, having been out of contact for over a week, their bodies were found with fatal gunshot wounds on a rural beach. The deaths have been classified as a murder-suicide, though it’s not clear right now who is responsible for killing the other. A note found next to one of the bodies said the two men loved Lopez Island thanks to a visit many years ago.

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