MENDOCINO CO., 4/8/26 — A Ukiah High School teacher and former publisher of the shuttered news site Mendo Fever who is accused of having inappropriate communications with a minor has been charged with a misdemeanor count of allegedly annoying or molesting a child under 18, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
Hopland resident Matthew LaFever was arrested in November 2025 on suspicion of soliciting explicit photos from a 17-year-old girl while also sending revealing images of himself.
LaFever’s arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Superior Court of Mendocino County located at 100 N. State St. in Ukiah.
UPDATE, 4/10/26 — LaFever did not enter a plea at his arraignment Thursday but is scheduled to appear in court again on April 27.
Innocent until proven guilty.
The cops & DA already have the evidence. You must be a Trumper – always supporting paedophiles…
Stop diddling kids or their will be consequences.
*there
Jen sounds like a chick that’s too ugly to get a man. Get over it and get yourself a cat.
Matt… we’ve discussed you commenting on stuff like this…
So remember folks, these are the people that our government believes should have “their little secrets” about gender and sex with our children. These stories happen ALL of the time in our schools and yet THEY still gaslight us and tells us that we the parents are the ones who can’t be trusted…
Actually he was married with a kid and wasn’t Trans at all. Just a regular weird white dude
You missed the point. It’s the “Christian Straight” guys more often than not that are doing inappropriate behavior with under age kids or have some outlandish fetishes that involve forced participants. It’s not the trans crowd diddling children or raping people. It’s usually straight dudes and especially Christian straight dudes more often than not.
I see, thank you , I jumped to conclusions. We’re saying the same thing.
You’re weird as hell. Your conspiracy theory has nothing to do with LaFever being a pedophile. He’s a classic example of the “male school teacher aspiring to abuse girls.” We’ve seen this time and time again. Snapchat is an app for kids mostly. I wonder who else LaFever was following on that app. I’m betting that it was mostly teen girls.
Just watched a Norwegian movie about young girls dressing provocatively being sexual and then getting taken advantage of at the end of the night.
I phoned my niece, 40 years younger than I. No means No. Respect and a
Moral compass. But in an alcohol fueled night with a temptress you get what you projected. Screwed.
I’m not taking any high road when lust is vibing
But what if you’re just a pervy teacher sending butt hole pics to your underage student?
Hmmmmm…. The girl was using a fake profile to try to check up on trap her boyfriend according to police reports which seems questionable. Not defending because wrong is wrong no doubt but seems unlikely that she was traumatized by the exchange. There was no request for contact just online chatter. Is it worth ruining someone’s life over and that of his family?
Your comment makes you seem like a pedophile apologist. Why would an adult man find himself in an “alcohol fueled night” surrounded by minors if he’s even remotely normal? It’s absurd to suggest that kids are “asking for it” by being “temptresses” when normal adults know better than to find themselves in a party with people who seem to be minors. This would be a very uncomfortable scenario for any normal adult. I would leave a party immediately if anyone there seemed even borderline underage. It’s not the 1970s anymore when creeps got to use excuses like this for dating kids: “I didn’t know her age / she lied about her age!” Etc. Nobody believes that bull shit anymore.
We should let the evidence play out so we get all the facts testified under oath. Then let a jury find guilt or innocence. You might have an opinion but your opinion is worthless unless proven.
Can’t wait!
Dave Eyster is the real pervert here. He gets the UPD to put out a huge press release months ago, sits on the story til now then charges a misdemeanor. Scraping bottom for a charge. He’s a real Chief Executive of the county government all right.
As Ronald Reagan said way back when, “the nine most dangerous words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
Why is there no successful recall effort to remove Eyster? It should have already happened by now… Clearly the effort isn’t strong enough or you are doing it wrong…
everybody has an opinion, but no one has actual facts. They just believe stuff passed on by others which is not proven and likely much is just innuendo and fabricated. the only actual facts released, based on official reports, is online contact with a 17 year old who said she was using a fake profile to test her boyfriend – this was characterized in report as catfishing. Lafever asked for photo but not a nude photo – he sent a photo but not a nude photo. Inappropriate? absolutely! but not at all what people say they have seen evidence of. let legal take its course – if he did more they can enter that into evidence and then consequences are based on what is proven. People seem to think Lafever is buddies with DA and cops but I think he made some accusations against them prior to his arrest so they are actually adversaries?
A man in his 30s seeking private contact with minors in his spare time is INAPPROPRIATE. It matters not if the internet profile the teenage girl used was “really her” because it sounds like it was still a profile depicting a CHILD. What matters is that this school teacher is seeking sexual relationships with minors. Normal grown adults don’t use “Snapchat” — it’s mostly an app for kids, and Matt LaFever, of course, must know this. Why the hell is he using Snapchat if not to contact teens? Wake up. If given an opportunity, he certainly would’ve pursued a physical relationship with a child, because he’s just another dangerously stupid man in the world.
More cold showers might have tamed that Mendo Fever.
Hahahaaaaaaa