A 38-year-old Portland public school math teacher thought he was having a conversation with a 13-year-old girl when he began a sexual role play and talked about driving to California to meet her, court records show.

Portland police and federal agents arrested Craig Douglas-Meyers at his home in the Montavilla neighborhood on Friday. The suspect had posed as an underage girl on an online chat forum last month, according to an affidavit filed in Multnomah County District Court. The suspect was a police officer from Yorba City, Calif.

Douglas-Meyers pleaded not guilty to one count of enticement of a minor at an arraignment Monday attended by his parents. The parents declined to comment. He is currently on paid leave from his $96,500-a-year job at Hosford Middle School, according to a district spokesman.

District Judge Eric Dahlin ordered Douglas-Meyers to remain in custody until a detention hearing can be held.

After his arrest, the long-time teacher is said to have told investigators that he had hidden his illegal cybersex addiction from his wife. The conversations were “just fake” and a form of stress relief.

“The suspect admitted that he has chatted with minors before and that this is a part of him that he does not like,” a prosecutor wrote in the affidavit, adding that Douglas-Meyers also admitted to being attracted to 13-year-olds.

Douglas-Meyers began the conversation with the disguised profile of Yorba City Detective Jared Thornton on July 17 by praising the fake photo on the detective’s profile and asking the apparently young girl if she was enjoying her “summer vacation,” the affidavit states.

The detective posing as the girl said she was staying in a hotel with her mother and was frustrated because her camera was broken.

During the conversation, Douglas-Meyers learned the age of his interlocutor and replied, “I guess I’m not going to flirt too hard now… or maybe I will,” the affidavit states.

The detective told Douglas-Meyers that “boys my age are scum,” and the teacher said the 13-year-old looked like a “fun date” and was involved in a sexual scene, prosecutors allege.

“I see you have a cute figure,” he said, according to the affidavit.

When the detective suggested the real-life meeting was just a “fantasy,” Douglas-Meyers replied, “Oh dear, well, I guess unless I get there. I have to admit, I made it up, ha,” the affidavit states.

If convicted, luring a minor is punishable under Oregon law by a maximum prison sentence of five years.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and court issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.

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