Former New Jersey Teacher Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Child Exploitation and Child Pornography Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 22, 2013 |
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.