Teacher accused of sexting with man posing as 13-year-old girl
RIVERHEAD (WABC) -- There are disturbing allegations against an educator on Long Island who was suspended from the job after he was allegedly caught on camera admitting to sexting a 13-year-old girl.
The video was taken by a group of vigilantes who say they're on a mission to catch child predators.
Mike Villani, who is with a watchdog group called Predator Poachers Long Island, referred to a streamed YouTube video in which they nab a teacher at Wading River School
The video streamed off school property, in which they, along with police, approached the teacher about his alleged suspicious online activity with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
"I know that it was wrong. I know that I messed up. It is 100 percent on me," he was heard saying in the video.
Suffolk County Police confirm there is a criminal investigation and Shoreham-Wading River School District's Superintendent confirmed the teacher has been "removed from the classroom and will not be permitted on school grounds pending the outcome of the investigation.
"It was shocking, just given his position in society, you know," Villani said.
Villani explained that he posed as an underage girl when the teacher approached him in a chatroom app.
"I said, 'hey, I'm a 13-year-old girl,' and the conversation persisted, he got very flirty and even sexual," Villani said.
They exchanged over 100 messages between Monday and Wednesday.
The group called the police initially from Riverhead to investigate.
In the video, the teacher admits he accessed child porn with girls as young as 8 years old.
Parents with kids in his classes are beyond rattled as they have watched this video.
"I'm sick to my stomach, it's disgusting," parent Kristen Miracle said.
The school district is providing counseling.
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