A 43-year-old Valley Stream man who served as a New York City school guidance counselor and teacher’s union representative admitted Tuesday to exchanging child porn over the Internet, federal authorities announced.
John Capuano pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornography in interstate and foreign commerce before US Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown at federal court in Central Islip. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“This crime was particularly egregious in that Capuano was a school guidance counselor entrusted with ensuring the safety and well-being of children while he at the same time was victimizing them by distributing images of child pornography,” Robert Capers, US Attorney for the Easter District of New York, said in a statement.
Capuano’s guilty plea stems from an undercover investigation last April in which authorities discovered that child porn involving kids as young as three years old had been posted to a chat room by Capuano. Investigators traced the information to Capuano, and a search warrant was executed at his Valley Stream home on May 28, 2015.
It was during that search that authorities said Capuano admitted to trading child porn through an app on at least two devices, one of which was used for teacher’s union business, authorities said.
Capuano has been in federal custody ever since his arrest last year.
Prosecutors did not announce a sentencing date.
