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Published on January 8, 2026 at 12:04 pm
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A former eighth grade teacher has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for trying to entice a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Matthew Christopher Yates, 31 of Hastings, was an eighth grade teacher at Veritas Classical School at the time of his arrest in March 2022, prosecutors say. Veritas is a Christian school in St. Augustine.
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Court documents say Yates posted a notice on a social media application in early 2022, asking if “any women want to be rated by a teacher?” An undercover FBI agent in Jacksonville, posing online as a 14-year-old child, responded.
During an online text conversation, Yates said he was a teacher and asked the agent, posing as a girl, if she ever “fantasized about a teacher?” Yates and the “child” exchanged photos, and he then told the agent that “I bet you look hot in a bikini,” court documents said.
The agent and Yates exchanged more texts between February and March 2022. Yates sent several photos, including some that were sexually explicit, court documents said.
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On March 8, 2022, Yates asked the individual to meet in person, detailing specific sexual acts that he intended to perform on her when they met. Yates also told the person that he could use his cellphone to record their sexual activity when they met, documents said.
Teacher arrested at meeting
FBI agents arrrested Yates when he drove to meet the “child” on March 11, 2022. He admitted it was his idea to make a video of his sexual encounter, court documents said.
Yates pleaded guilty Aug. 27. Besides the prison sentence, he must serve 10 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
