Teacher’s Aide Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

Earlier today, Taleek Brooks, a former teacher’s aide at a public elementary school in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and distributing child pornography. The proceedings were held before United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. Brooks faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of 50 years’ imprisonment when sentenced on May 23, 2013.
The guilty plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
Brooks, a teacher’s aide at Public School 243, The Weeksville School, in Brooklyn, regularly downloaded and distributed videos and images depicting child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer file sharing program. In December 2011, Brooks accepted a “friend” request from an undercover FBI special agent, which permitted the agent to observe and download several videos and images depicting child pornography that Brooks had designated for sharing with his “friends” on the peer-to-peer network.
On January 13, 2012, FBI special agents executed a search warrant on Brooks’s residence in Brooklyn. During the search, agents seized, among other items, a computer and two external hard drives from Brooks’s bedroom. Hundreds of videos and images depicting child pornography were found on the computer equipment.
A FBI forensic examination of the equipment revealed that Brooks had produced child pornography. In a folder that Brooks had labeled “Special,” investigators recovered videos and images of a young child performing sexually explicit acts at Brooks’s direction. Brooks can be heard and seen in some of the videos. Investigators later confirmed that the young child had been a student at Public School 243 while Brooks was a teacher’s aide and that the videos and images were produced in two of the school’s classrooms.
“School is supposed to be a place of learning, where our children can excel and grow. Brooks turned his classroom into a place of fear and exploitation, taking advantage of the trust that was placed in him by a young child that he was charged with teaching and protecting. He spent his additional time and energy collecting images of the exploitation of yet more children. We stand committed to protecting our youth from those who abuse them and violate that trust,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today’s guilty plea stands as a strong warning to those who prey on our youth that we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos stated, “Brooks not only collected and traded images of child pornography, he created it when he directed and recorded a child performing sexually explicit acts in a school classroom. The FBI is committed to protecting children by policing child predators.”
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Polemeni.
Defendant:
Taleek Brooks
Age: 42

Former Middle School Teacher Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charge

DALLAS—Daniel Oberlender, 45, a former choir teacher at Cross Timbers Middle School in Grapevine, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to a criminal information charging one count of distribution of child pornography. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of not less than five years, or more than 20 years, in federal prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for June 20, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Oberlender has been in federal custody since December 20, 2012, when he was arrested on a federal criminal complaint that was filed after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence in Grapevine on December 18, 2012. According to documents filed in the case, Oberlender used his Apple Macbook computer to connect to the Internet and use Skype software to share a video file depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Specifically, according to the factual resume filed in the case, on August 5, 2012, Oberlender used Skype to communicate with a person known as “DJH.” During that communication, Oberlender permitted DJH to remotely view the entire contents of his computer screen. Oberlender then began playing a video file, viewable by DJH, that depicted an adult male and a minor male engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The minor male, whose eyes are shut during the entire video, appears to be approximately 5 or 6-years-old. DJH, who was located in Dallas, used Evaer software to capture and record the contents of Oberlender’s computer screen, to include the transmission of the video.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “Resources.”
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem is in charge of the prosecution.

Former New Jersey Teacher Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Child Exploitation and Child Pornography Offenses

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Evan Zauder, a former sixth-grade teacher at a private school in New Jersey, pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and to receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. Zauder pled guilty before United States District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. His criminal conduct is not currently known to have involved any students at the school.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated, “Evan Zauder’s abuse and exploitation of minors was heinous criminal conduct perpetrated on some of the most vulnerable and powerless members of society. This office treats the protection of children as an extraordinarily serious responsibility, and as this case demonstrates, we will persist in our efforts to ensure that those who prey on minors are found and held accountable.”
According to the complaint, the superseding information, and statements made in court:
Between April and November 2011, Zauder used the Internet to entice a minor in New Jersey who was 14 to 15 years old at the time to engage in sexual activity and to attempt to entice the minor to do so a second time. Zauder also received and distributed files containing child pornography from his desktop computer between December 2010 and May 2011 and possessed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on four devices that were seized from his Manhattan apartment in May 2012.
Zauder, 27, pled guilty to a superseding information charging him with one count of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity; one count of transportation, receipt, and distribution of child pornography; and one count of possession of child pornography. He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison on the enticement count; a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years on the transportation, receipt, and distribution count; and a maximum sentence of 10 years on the possession count. For each of the three counts in the superseding information, Zauder faces a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. He will be sentenced by Judge Kaplan on May 22, 2013, at 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Bharara praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for its outstanding work in the investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni is in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry A. Chernoff represented the government at today’s plea proceeding.
The FBI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (212) 384-1000. It is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at (800) 843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

Hudson County Teacher Charged with Distributing Images of Child Sexual Abuse Over the Internet

NEWARK—A permanent substitute teacher at a private school in Jersey City was arrested today after law enforcement officers discovered alleged child pornography on a computer at his residence, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Guy West, 44, of Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of distributing images of child sex abuse over the Internet. West will make his initial court appearance tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz in Newark federal court.
According to the criminal complaint;
On December 18, 2012, West distributed videos and images depicting child sexual abuse on the Internet via peer-to-peer file sharing software to which others had access in shared directories. Special agents of the FBI executed a search warrant today at West’s residence, seizing digital evidence that contained numerous images depicting child sexual abuse, including material that involved prepubescent minors and material that portrays sadistic or masochistic conduct. The digital evidence seized included three files previously downloaded from West by law enforcement agents working in an undercover capacity on the peer-to-peer network.
On the child pornography distribution count, West faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, the Jersey City Police Department and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office with the investigation leading to today’s arrest.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.

Former Middle School Teacher in Federal Custody on Child Pornography Charge

FORT WORTH, TX—Daniel Oberlender, 45, a former choir teacher at Cross Timbers Middle School in Grapevine, Texas, was arrested yesterday on a federal criminal complaint charging transportation and distribution of child pornography. He made his first appearance in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton and was detained. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
According to the complaint filed in the case, Oberlender knowingly used the Internet and Skype software to share a video file depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The criminal complaint was filed after law enforcement executed a search warrant at Oberlender’s residence in Grapevine on December 18, 2012.
A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. If convicted of this offense, however, Oberlender faces a maximum statutory penalty of not less than five or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem is in charge of the prosecution.