Southern California man at center of tainted flute investigation arrested on child exploitation charges

The founder of an international music program under investigation for possibly providing flutes contaminated with semen to hundreds of Southern California students has been arrested on federal child exploitation charges.

John Edward Zeretzke, 60, of Ventura was taken into custody Thursday by officers with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Zeretzke was released Monday on $20,000 bond. “There are significant restrictions in place concerning his contact with minors,” said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The five-count indictment alleges Zeretzke coerced a girl to produce child pornography, attempted to entice another victim to send him sexually explicit images, traveled to the Philippines to engage in sex with other minors, and twice received child pornography over the internet.

Zeretzke could face life in prison if convicted of all charges, Mrozek said, adding that none of his alleged victims is from Southern California.

Zeretzke, who is a musician, founded Flutes Across the World in 2009. The nonprofit has partnered with thousands of children throughout the U.S., including school districts in Orange and Los Angeles counties, to create pairs of decorated flutes — one to keep and one to give away to a child in another country.

Flutes Across the World has led music missions in Haiti, the Philippines, Honduras and Native American Indian reservations. The organization also has sent “flute ambassadors” to Nepal, Africa and parts of southeast Asia, according to the organization’s website that has since been removed.

California authorities learned in September 2017 that some of the flutes may have been contaminated with semen and began collecting them from students as part of a criminal investigation.

Representatives of at least four Orange County school districts — Anaheim Elementary, Fullerton and Fountain Valley, and Newport-Mesa Unified school districts — said at the time their students may have used contaminated flutes.

Children who took a music class at Bowers Museum’s Kidseum in Santa Ana also may have used the flutes.

The federal indictment against Zeretzke is unrelated to a California Department of Justice investigation into the distribution of the flutes, Mrozek said. Officials with the California Department of Justice could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

From Nov. 6, 2015, to May 28, 2016, Zeretzke attempted to entice a victim, whom he believed was a 15-year-old girl, to engage in sexual activity, the indictment alleges. Specifically, on Nov. 7, 2015, the victim told Zeretzke in a Facebook chat she planned to lose her virginity on her upcoming 16th birthday, according to the complaint.

In a response to the victim, the indictment alleges, Zeretzke said “he had always wanted to have sex with a virgin and wished he could be that person” for her.

Zeretzke then allegedly sent the victim eight photos of himself having sex with his ex-girlfriend and, the following day, 36 explicit pictures of himself.

During the Facebook chat, Zeretzke also told the girl he wanted to see a photo of her genitalia and described how he would like to have sex with her, the indictment states.

On Dec. 15, 2015, Zeretzke informed the victim he had sent her a pair of cowboy boots as a present and a week later she replied in a Facebook chat with a photos of herself wearing the boots, according to the complaint.

The indictment also alleges that from Aug. 20 to Sept. 23 in 2017, Zeretzke traveled to the Philippines to engage in sex with an individual who was 12 to 16 years old and received child pornography through his Facebook account.

A  tentative trial date for Zeretzke has been set for Nov. 6.