Former Menifee Christian school principal charged with intent to solicit teenage boy for sex acts

A former Menifee Christian school principal and current administrator in the Banning Unified School District faces multiple charges after being accused of arranging to meet a teenage boy for sex, authorities said.

Charles Patrick Mayer, 55, of Menifee is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga with bail set at $1 million. He is charged with arranging to meet a minor, sending harmful material to seduce a minor and contacting a minor with the intent to have sex, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department news release.

Mayer (right) served as principal of Good Shepherd Lutheran School on Newport Road in Menifee until his departure in 2014, when he took a job as principal of Faith Lutheran Elementary and Middle School in Vista. He currently was serving as Dean of Students at Nicolet Middle School in the Banning USD.

Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Menifee closed in 2015.

Mayer was arrested after he responded on a social media account used by Rancho Cucamonga Police detectives as an undercover law enforcement account in various criminal investigations. Mayer began chatting on the site with what he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. Detectives and Mayer corresponded for five days, during which time Mayer sent nude photos of himself to the decoy. He also asked the decoy to come to his Menifee residence for the weekend to engage in sexual acts, according to the news release.

Mayer made arrangements to meet the decoy at a location in Rancho Cucamonga to pick him up and go back to his residence for the night, police said. On Friday about 4:30 p.m., Mayer drove to the location, where detectives were waiting to arrest him.

Detectives are concerned Mayer has previously met with and engaged in sexual acts with other teenage boys, police said. If anyone recognizes Mayer or has information related to this case, they are asked to contact the Detective's Bureau at the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.