Teacher among 16 arrested in N.J. on child-porn charges
Sixteen people, including a school bus driver and an elementary schoolteacher, have been arrested across New Jersey in a sweep to catch individuals downloading and distributing child pornography, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
Sixteen people, including a school bus driver and an elementary schoolteacher, have been arrested across New Jersey in a sweep to catch individuals downloading and distributing child pornography, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
Thomas Guzzi Jr., the teacher, worked at John H. Winslow Elementary School in Vineland for more than 10 years and was found with more than 100 files of child pornography on a personal computer, authorities alleged.
The school district said it suspended Guzzi without pay in February after his arrest.
"We're cooperating with the authorities," district spokeswoman Gia Messore said. She said Guzzi's salary was slightly more than $62,000. "He has been suspended without pay. We haven't gone any further than that yet."
The Broadway Theatre of Pitman, where Guzzi was a stage manager, also cut ties with him. A manager said he had helped out there for 10 years.
Answering a phone call to Guzzi, a family member declined to comment.
Ages 17 to 72
The bus driver facing charges, Eugene Triston, 55, worked for the Sparta School District in Sussex County and viewed child pornography on breaks between bus runs, authorities said.
All the suspects targeted in "Operation Safeguard," which the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice conducted with federal investigators, were charged with distribution and possession of child pornography. They range in age from 17 to 72 and were arrested between Feb. 10 and March 31.
Among them were a 17-year-old from Hudson County who sold child pornography in exchange for Amazon gift cards and a factory worker from Hudson County who was found with a suitcase containing sex toys when investigators searched his home, the Attorney General's Office said.
'All walks of life'
"These defendants come from all walks of life, but they allegedly share a depraved desire to see children being raped and sexually exploited," acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said in a statement Wednesday.
"By viewing and distributing child pornography, particularly the child rape videos targeted in this operation, these offenders directly motivate and put themselves in league with the predators who torture children to create these repulsive materials."
The suspects could face five to 10 years in prison on the distribution charge, and three to five years on the possession charge.
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