Jonathan Deutsch, 38, was found guilty on several charges related to producing child pornography and is facing a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Deutsch was a teacher at Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn before his arrest.
"Jonathan Deutsch connected with young children over the Internet and exploited them for his own sexual gratification. His conduct is criminal and deplorable," stated United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace.
Beginning in 2016, Deutsch would groom young children and encourage them to send explicit photos of themselves to him via social media.
"The trust between teachers and young students is vitally important, and violation of that trust by criminal predators is truly reprehensible," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. "This defendant's appalling actions are a reminder to all parents to closely monitor their child's online activity, and today's conviction further proves that the NYPD and our law enforcement partners will never abate our efforts to keep young people safe.
Deutsch was part of several Facebook groups in which he'd use two separate accounts and message children.
On one of the accounts, he posed as a 33-year-old teacher from New York, and on the other, he posed as a 15-year-old boy.
He would shower children with compliments and pretend to be their boyfriend then ask for sexually explicit photos and videos.
Deutsch exchanged sexual photos with at least four children ranging in age from 10 to 16 years old.
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