Colorado teacher arrested, accused of making children pretend to be hypnotized in sexually explicit videos
By Sadie Buggle
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BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — A Colorado teacher who worked at multiple schools along the Front Range is now behind bars, accused of persuading multiple juveniles to act as if they were under hypnosis before directing them to perform sexually explicit acts on camera. Investigators say he sold the content online until a series of online safety alerts exposed the scheme.
According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, 39-year-old Patricio Alejandro Illanes was arrested on Jan. 5 after a months-long investigation into tips from Meta, Inc., reporting that an account he owned and operated was creating and selling sexually explicit content.
Those tips led Boulder detectives to search Illanes’ personal cell phone, which revealed multiple sexually explicit videos involving apparent juveniles that had been shared on various messaging applications and paid subscription pornography sites.
The sheriff’s office said an investigation into that content revealed that Illanes had instructed juveniles to “perform a script” in front of a green screen while pretending to be in a hypnotic state. The sessions escalated to victims removing clothing and engaging in explicit acts at Illanes’ direction. Illanes allegedly filmed and photographed these sessions before editing the content “for sexual gratification” and selling it online.
Boulder officials say they’ve already identified four out-of-state individuals who were involved in these “hypnotic role-play sessions” as juveniles.
Illanes now faces 50 charges, including dozens of Class 3 felony counts related to sexual exploitation of a child – covering the creation, production, possession, and distribution of explicit material – as well as 10 misdemeanor counts of unlawful practice of an occupation or profession.
Detectives said they also recovered additional “hypnosis-like” photographs that appear to depict clothed students in a school setting, further raising concerns about Illanes’ access to minors through his multiple professional roles across the state.
At the time of his arrest, Illanes was an English teacher at Arvada Senior High School. The sheriff’s office confirmed that after administration was notified of the investigation, they swiftly placed him on administrative leave before terminating him.
However, authorities say Illanes had access to students for up to 10 years before that role in positions he held in schools, libraries, and youth programs across Longmont, Boulder, Lafayette, Denver, Erie and Arvada, including:
2010-2015: City of Longmont Children and Youth Services 2013-2017: New Meridian Alternative High School in Longmont 2015-2021: Longmont Library – Children and Teens Section 2017-2019: Centaurus High School in Lafayette 2019-2020: Mapleton School District in Denver 2019-2023: Erie Middle School & Erie High School 2024-2025: Arvada Senior High School Investigators are now asking for any current or former students and co-workers of Illanes who may have additional information related to this investigation to come forward.
Anyone who believes they or their child may have been a victim of Illanes is encouraged to contact the law enforcement agency where the incident occurred, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said.
The investigation involved assistance from multiple local, state, and federal agencies, including the FBI and law enforcement departments across Colorado, Oregon and Ohio.
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