Editor’s Note: This article makes brief mention of instances of sexual misconduct and harassment, including alleged nonconsensual sexual acts, and drug use. 

A former University of Iowa School of Music professor who is currently facing federal charges continued to teach students while he was under investigation by law enforcement. 

John Muriello, 65, is charged with possession of child pornography and distributing methamphetamine that resulted in death. He allegedly possessed thousands of sexually explicit photos and videos featuring minors on electronic drives seized by the Iowa City Police Department in May 2021. 

The UI placed Muriello, a tenured emeritus voice and opera professor, on leave in May 2021. He retired on July 1, 2022. 

According to the UI’s class enrollment program, MyUI, Muriello was an instructor for several in-person and online classes from fall 2019 to spring 2021 before he went on leave: 

• Fall 2019: Muriello was listed as a team teacher for Performance Instruction for Non-Majors and the primary instructor for Secondary Performance-Voice, Lower-Level Voice, Upper-Level Voice, Major Voice, and Graduate Secondary Performance-Voice. 
• Spring 2020: Muriello was a team instructor for one section of Performance Instruction for Non-majors Voice and a primary instructor in a second section of that class. He was also the primary instructor for Lower-Level Voice, Upper-Level Voice, Major Voice, and Topics in Vocal Performance. 
• Fall 2020: Muriello was a team instructor for two sections of Performance Instruction for Non-majors Voice and the primary instructor for Lower-Level Voice, Upper-Level Voice, Major Voice, Graduate Secondary Performance-Voice, and Survey Song Literature II. 
• Spring 2021: Muriello was a team instructor for two sections of Performance Instruction for Non-majors and the primary instructor for Secondary Performance-Voice, Lower-Level Voice, Upper-Level Voice, Major Voice, and Graduate Secondary Performance-Voice. 
• On May 28, 2021, Muriello was placed on leave. It is unclear if he was placed on paid or unpaid leave after the academic year ended. 

The UI Human Resources investigatory suspension policy states in some circumstances, “it may be necessary to remove an employee from the workplace pending the outcome of a personnel/HR investigation.” 

The UI puts employees on temporary reassignment or administrative leave to allow an investigation to proceed without disruption of evidence or to preserve a safe, orderly, and professional work environment, according to the policy. 

The Daily Iowan requested comment from all UI School of Music professors of vocal performance and opera and the director to comment either via email or in person. All requests were declined with the same response telling the DI to contact the UI’s media request team. 

The UI wrote in an official public statement to School of Music students on Aug. 24 that individuals must be afforded due process, but in consultation with an investigating agency, the UI “can and does take interim steps to ensure the safety of our campus community.” 

Jeneane Beck, UI Assistant Vice President for External Relations, did not share specific information with the DI about what “interim steps” were taken to ensure student safety before placing Muriello on leave in May 2021. 

Reports, tips made between 2019 and 2021 

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip indicating that a user, thought to be Muriello, shared child pornography via Zoom in 2019. 

According to an ICPD search warrant application, the Center received information from Zoom Video Communications about child pornography in 2019. Zoom provided the user’s phone number, address, and credit card number, which led law enforcement to identify the user as likely being Muriello. 

The Center forwarded its report to ICPD in May 2021. 

The UI received its first tip from an anonymous email on April 10, 2020, stating it was a parent of a UI student who alleged accusations that Muriello was recording sex acts with the parent’s student, providing methamphetamines and a date rape drug to that student, and possessing child pornography. 

The UI forwarded the email to the UI Police Department. 

On Sept. 4, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took a report from a former UI student. The student also provided Muriello’s phone number. 

Seven months after the UI received the anonymous email and Muriello was still instructing at the UI, the ICPD conducted a trash rip of Muriello’s residence and found syringes, needles, indica, and baggies on Nov. 20, 2020, according to the search warrant application. The indica packages had the names of three people, including Muriello and Iowa City resident Eric Hojka, 49. 

On May 12, 2021, Hojka called the Iowa City police to report an unconscious person who was later transported to UI Hospitals and Clinics and pronounced dead from methamphetamine intoxication, according to the search warrant application. 

Hojka was convicted in May 2021 for drug conspiracy resulting in death. 

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a second tip from an alleged friend of Muriello on May 8, 2021. The friend reported Muriello was in possession of several electronic devices with child pornography. The report was forwarded to Iowa City Police in May 2021. 

Law enforcement searched Hojka’s Iowa City residence in May 2021, according to the search warrant application. Police seized multiple devices and a substance believed to be methamphetamine. Hojka allegedly told police in an interview that Muriello provided him with meth. 

Following the report, the state of Iowa conducted a search warrant on May 28, 2021, of Muriello’s Iowa City residence, and multiple electronic devices and a substance believed to be meth was seized, according to the search warrant application. 

Text messages retrieved from Hojka’s phone seized by police indicated that Hojka and Muriello were hosting multiple sex partners, and both were receiving shipments of narcotics. 

Muriello is being held in the Muscatine County Jail without bond with a trial set to begin Dec. 5 in Davenport. 

If readers are struggling with drug addiction, please call the National Drug Hotline at 877-724-1692.