Former Delaware County Teacher Indicted for Coercing, Transporting, and Sexually Abusing Students

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Paul Geer, 56, of Hancock, New York, was arraigned today on a federal indictment charging him with three counts of coercing and enticing three separate children to travel across state lines to engage in unlawful sexual activity, and three counts of transporting the children across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with those children. 

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Craig Tremaroli made the announcement. 

The indictment filed against Geer alleges that, while Geer was a teacher at the Family Foundation School in Hancock, New York, Geer imposed various disciplinary sanctions on students which were tantamount to torture. The sanctions Geer imposed on students included depriving children of food or forcing children to eat food that had been regurgitated, binding children in rugs and leaving them in isolated rooms for extended periods of time and forcing children to perform forced physical labor. The indictment further alleges that, in 1994, 2000, and 2001, Geer used his position of authority and his ability to impose these brutal sanctions to coerce three students to travel with him, on separate occasions, to Maine, Pennsylvania, and Toronto, Canada. The indictment also charges that Geer transported the students across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity with them. While on those trips, Geer raped or otherwise sexually abused each of the three children. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The three counts of coercion and enticement each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 5 years. The three counts of transporting children across state lines each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 5 years. If convicted, Geer will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

The FBI is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica N. Carbone and Adrian S. LaRochelle are prosecuting the case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).  Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

If you have any information about Paul Geer, the Family Foundation School, or other schools like it, which may have marketed themselves as part of the “Troubled Teen Industry,” please contact the FBI at FFStips@fbi.gov.