Safe2Tell report led to Douglas County middle school teacher's sex assault arrest: Affidavit
David Feil, 49, of Littleton, was arrested Tuesday by detectives with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit on two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.
Program helping Colorado students stay safe in school, report shows
Feil was hired by the Douglas County School District in 2014 and taught at Roxborough Intermediate School. Prior to becoming a teacher, Feil was an educational assistant for special needs students.
On Thursday, FOX31 obtained a redacted affidavit for Feil's arrest, which described how a deputy learned on March 18 of an investigation into Feil by the Douglas County School District Human Resources director after the teacher allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with his students 'a few years ago.'
On March 12, the district received a Safe2Tell tip. This tip has been redacted to protect individuals' identities:
' … Mr. Fiel or Dave Fiel, he is extremely inapropriate with the (redacted) and last year the (redacted) called him Mr Fiel the pedofiel. He has many boys added on video games and has girls social media added and scendsthem inapropriet videos on snapchat. Another (redacted) that was in his class in 2022 said he was assepecially inapropriate with (redacted) friend (redacted). Mr Fiel sent a video of him flipping off the camera and said just kidding and turned it into a heart without a shirt on. In another video he sent to the same (redacted) he blew a kiss towards the camera with a filter that has hearts all over his face. At spirit nights he hrld hands with (redacted) and I have a friend who was in his class last year always talked about how he had the sit in his lap while he played with their.'
The anonymous tipster told Safe2Tell, which reached out for further information, that someone had recently posted a video of Feil on Snapchat.
The human resource director spoke to a student about the video, who had been in one of Feil's classes. According to the affidavit, the student said they and two others were treated differently from others in their class and that the 49-year-old had spoken to the students about pornography, brought them gifts and added them on his Instagram and Snapchat accounts.
The minor told the human resource director that they still had direct messages on Instagram from Feil, starting in 2021. The juvenile also shared videos allegedly sent by Feil showing the teacher making kissing noises and using heart filters on his face while not wearing a shirt.
The human resource director, after learning these pieces of information, immediately placed Feil on leave from the school and initiated a Title 9 investigation.
The affidavit notes that the school district gave Feil a 'letter of direction' during the 2021-2022 school year, which the school principal told him to, quote, 'Do not follow children on any sort of social media platform.' She went on to describe his behavior as 'creeper vibes,' and appeared distraught over the situation.
Deputies continued investigating and learned on March 20 that a victim first met Feil while in the 3rd grade at after-hours guitar classes that Feil taught at the school. Then, Feil became the victim's teacher in 6th grade. The victim described how they believed that Feil's special treatment of them and their friends began at a music festival while the children were in the 6th grade, and said that Feil 'held my hand and gave me a piggyback ride' while they went to Safeway that day.
The victim went on to describe additional physical contacts with Feil, which included him leaving heart-shaped oranges on one student's desk, asking a trio of students talking about Naked Juice drinks if they 'Want to get naked?' and talking about how he learned about Playboy and watching pornography. Feil also allegedly rewarded students for good behavior by letting them sit on his lap. The victims told deputies that Feil would rub their thighs, buttocks and other inappropriate areas of their bodies.
Feil was interviewed by law enforcement on April 9. According to the affidavit, Feil said he had brought the students to Safeway in 2021 to try and win their favor and because he knew the children were not allowed to go without an adult chaperone. He said the school administration admonished him for the incident.
Former Jeffco high school employee faces sex assault, drug charges
Feil also told interviewers that since being placed on leave, he's been struggling to figure out what his boundary issue is. However, he denied communicating with any student outside the classroom and said he never gave his phone number to students. He said he was spoken to by human resources after he followed somebody on TikTok and commented on a video.
The affidavit quotes Feil as saying, 'So yeah, I gave hugs, I reciprocated hugs all the time. In my mind, not a big deal at the time.'
He denied having specific students sit on his lap during read-aloud, and said that 2021 was his 'boundaries' year. He also said his nicknames in the school are 'Dr. Phil, Mr. Fillet and Mr. Footlocker,' before pausing, then admitting a student once said his name was 'pedophile.'
At one point during his interview with police, the interviewers asked Feil if they could look through his Instagram messages. He asked to see them first and expressed 'concern for us taking the messages out of context and wondering if any of the messages would incriminate him in some way.'
He called his conversations with minors 'just stupid banter,' but admitted to police that boundaries were crossed and that he took personal relationships with certain students that year. According to the affidavit, the messages show that Feil 'acted in a grooming manner in effort to gain trust of these students and ultimately committed unspeakable acts for his own benefit.'
Feil was given a $50,000 cash or surety bond on May 13 and posted that bond on May 14. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 12.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
14 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Top Industries That Attract 'Terrible' People
If you've ever wondered if other people perceive your job negatively, this post is for you. In one Reddit thread (which you can see here), people discussed the career fields they think have the most "terrible" people, and there were some very interesting takes. I've rounded up 18 different answers – let's see if your industry made this list: "I think, while not all people in Human Resources are terrible, the field does attract the kind of people who are looking to lord it over others. Busybodies, gossips, insecure people who let a little bit of power go to their heads." "HOA Management. Almost cost me my sanity. Thank goodness I left that field." "Spammers and scammers." –Express_Gas2416 "Cops. Even most of my buddies who were good guys before becoming cops became douchebags." "Nurses are either the sweetest people on earth or the devil." "Fitness, especially those who think they are 'influencers.' Bunch of narcissists and fake personas." –Superb-Attitude9606 "Anti-union consultants." "I used to work in meteorology, and while I met some good people in the field, I met A LOT of condescending assholes. That's a big reason why I no longer work in that field. It was taking a huge toll on my mental health." "For a year, I worked in loan sales (predatory max-interest loans targeting people who can't get loans anywhere else), and about 75% of my job was collecting. Skip tracing, digging through their social media, calling family members, etc. They wanted me to take over my own branch, and the money would have been great. I just could not do it." "Paparazzi." –Gizm00 "My mom was a home nurse who was also sometimes sent to do elderly care at aged care facilities. She would frequently get upset at both some of the staff and some of the management because of how badly some elders were treated." "Corrections officers. A lot of them are narcissistic predators, especially in my experience as a former CO who worked in 2 different maximum-security state prisons." "Marketing. I've been working in the industry for more than a decade, have had roles all around the world, and the overwhelming majority of people I've worked with have been immature, insecure, conceited, irascible, narcissistic, antagonistic, and, above all, pathologically self-absorbed. An absolute nightmare to be around." "That girl from high school who slides in your DMs on Instagram with the 'hey girly!' trying to sell you her fit tea." "Surgeons. I say this as someone who wants to be one. You need the perfect mix of insanity and egomania even to think you'll make it there, and the prestige of the career only further attracts those people." "The money only adds to it, as does the reaction when you tell others what you do. I'd say the douchebaggery of a surgeon is 40% learned from the pressure and abuse of academia/training, 20% internal ego, 10% how others treat them, and maybe 30% totally justified."–RegionEducational366 "Real estate. Narcissism runs rampant." "Lawyer here. We're a bunch of pretentious assholes who really like to argue about minutia and get paid to do it. Here's a dirty secret: half of the time, we don't actually agree with our client. But since they pay us to argue for them, argue we will!" And finally, "Entertainment industry. Far too many stories of rich people with too much power subjecting young and weak individuals at the bottom of the barrel to sexual harassment and promising success based on lies and promises that they don't intend to keep." What else belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!
Los Angeles Times
19 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Where in the world is the watermelon man?
The Instagram message I sent went this way: Querido Ivan, ¿Dónde estás? Llevo un par de semanas preocupado por ti. ¿Dónde estás?… Dime que estás pasando desapercibido. … Dime que no estás en la cárcel ni en un centro de detención de mala muerte. O en el México cuerdo.' Ivan is the guy who sells cocos frios — cold coconuts — and watermelon, pineapple and mangos from a cart on an L.A. corner I pass by most days. For nearly a year, whenever I saw his bright rainbow umbrella, my mouth started to water. My usual order: two large chopped watermelon cups — one plain for my girlfriend, and one with a splash of chamoy and tejate, for me — handed over by Ivan or his little brother with a 'Here, my friend.' Sounds dangerous right? Like Ivan and his brother are criminal masterminds? Since the second week in June, as ICE, Homeland Security, the National Guard, the Marines and who knows who else took to the streets all masked up, war-fighting ready, and started disappearing Angelenos, I'd been worried about Ivan. Where was he? Hence the Instagram. I identified myself as tu amigo Miguel, the 'tipo' in the black Acura with the two-watermelon usual. 'Te extraño,' I said. I missed him and the watermelon. I said I hoped he was desapercibido — lying low — and not in a sleazy detention center or back in Mexico, which at least is a sane country. That lying low would be the best-case scenario for Ivan and his brother was absurd. Two guys providing Los Angeles with iced fruit were probably on the lam, unable to earn a living because the president of the United States thought 'real Americans' wanted their cocos frios cart. I told my friend Lance about Ivan's vanishing act. This was his response: 'My youngest son, Chris, went to Cal State Northridge and got his degree in chopping fruit, but he couldn't find a job, so he went to Stanford and got a master's in cocos frios, but still no jobs. Now, thanks to Donald Trump, my boy is going to be on the corner chopping fruit. Finally.' Into July, still nothing from Ivan. Finally, out of town on vacation, I heard back. 'Hola, amigo, estamos bien, muchas gracias habiamos.' One family member was taken, 'pero ya estamos bien' and 'cuanto se calmen los cosas … estaremos.' 'But we're fine' and 'when things calm down, we'll be back.' But when? 'A lot of ICE,' he Instagrammed. 'A lot of la migra.' Not yet. Days went by. Then on Monday, still out of town, I hear my phone's 'handoff' tone. A friend texted me a picture of the rainbow umbrella: 'Your watermelon man is back on his corner.' I tried Ivan. He messaged right back. I'll save you the Spanish: 'Hello, good evening. I'll be waiting for you here. In the meantime, continue enjoying your lovely trip. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.' Who is this menace to society trying to fool? I owe Ivan $16. I didn't have cash for my last order in early June. Next week, I'll pay up beneath that beautiful rainbow umbrella. And get two more cups of watermelon to go. Michael Krikorian is a former Times staff writer.
Chicago Tribune
20 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Today in Chicago History: ‘Black Sox' acquitted, but ultimately banned for life from baseball
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 2, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) 1921: Eight White Sox players had been charged with throwing the World Series. Despite earning the nickname the 'Black Sox,' the men were acquitted by a jury that deliberated just 2 hours and 47 minutes. Chicago White Sox players conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. Here's how the Tribune covered it.A day after their acquittal, however, baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ruled that the players allegedly involved — Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Emil 'Happy' Felsch, Chick Gandil, Frederick William McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Lefty Williams — would be banned for life from organized baseball. 1990: Chicago White Sox rookie Frank Thomas knocked in the winning run in his first major-league game. The Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 during the opener of a doubleheader at County Stadium. In addition to future Hall of Famer Thomas, the Sox's lineup also included two of their No. 1 draft picks: Alex Fernandez (1990) and Robin Ventura (1988). 2001: Chicago Public Library launched its 'One Book, One Chicago' initiative. The first book on the list: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee — Mayor Richard M. Daley's favorite. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Pelé, Hamm, Beckham, Rapinoe, Messi and more. When soccer's big names came to play2009: Brazilian soccer star Marta made her professional debut in the United States with her Los Angeles Sol team, which lost in a match against the Chicago Red Stars at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
