NJ Elementary School Teacher, Bus Driver, Among 16 Arrested In Child Porn Probe
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Some of the digital files found as part of the 'Operation Safeguard' NJ Division of Criminal Justice and ICE Homeland Security joint investigation contained videos of young children being raped or coerced into sexual acts, officials said.
Among the 16 people arrested was Thomas Guzzi Jr., a 5th grade teacher at John H. Winslow Elementary School in Vineland. According to the investigation, Guzzi, 36, was allegedly caught on camera hiding a tablet computer in the bathroom of the Broadway Theatre in Pitman, where he worked as a stage manager. The investigation alleged Guzzi hid the tablet there to record video of people using the restroom without their knowledge.
"He was involved in drama productions involving children at the school's drama club as advisor and stage manager," acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said.
More than 100 files containing child pornography were also found on Guzzi's personal computer, officials said.
"This operation specifically targeted file sharing networks popular with those that downloaded and share abhorrent videos on the internet, using file sharing software allows them to acces shared folders on computers," Lougy said.
Others arrested include Sparta School District contracted bus driver Eugene Triston, 55, who is accused of watching child porn while on break at work, as well as Andres Tejada-Diaz, a factory worker who allegedly had a locked suitcase filled with children's underwear and sex toys in his Kearney home.
Officials from the Sparta School District released a statement on Wednesday saying that none of the allegations against Triston involved any of the students within the district and that he was terminated from his existing relationship with the schools.
"The School District took immediate action, contacting the contracted company to clearly indicate that the individual should no longer service any Sparta students," the statement said.
The remaining suspects include: Shaun Dooley, 46, of Summit, John Wilms, 46, of Mount Holly, Robert Kunert, 22, of Hamilton, Mercer County, Matthew Dieterman, 32, of Piscataway.Oziel Hernandez Sandoval, 27, of Piscataway, Bernard Rapp, 72, of Southampton, Germin Simon, 34, of South Plainfield, William Morgan, 59, of Manalapan, Christian Martinez-Gonzalez, 34, of East Windsor, Brandon Weiss, 42, of Burlington Township, Armando Gonzalez-Longorio, 70, of Elizabeth and Dimas Zuniga, 44, of Roselle.
All 16 suspects were arrested between February and March 2016 and face charges of allegedly using file-sharing programs to distribute child pornography with varying degrees of severity, officials said.
As CBS2's Meg Baker explained, the New Jersey State Police Technology Lab in Hamilton has a new state of the art lab that the task force used to track down the predators.
"The lab will allow us, and gives us the technology to do that full forensic, deep investigation into the seized evidence," Lougy said.
The evidence, like IP addresses may help to track down others involved.
"Homeland security investigation special agents have arrested more than 14,000 predators nationwide, with more than 300 predators here in New Jersey," Richard Reinhold, ICE said.
One of the criminals was a 17-year-old from Hudson County who was selling child porn to other users on the internet for Amazon gift cards.
Investigators said none of the children in the images is from New Jersey, but if you suspect a child is being abused download the ICE app or call ICE at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
If convicted of sharing 25 files or more, defendants face a minimum sentence of five years in prison. The suspects face up to five years in prison if found guilty of possessing more than 100 files of child pornography, officials said.