A New York City teacher allegedly had photos of child porn on his computer and had engaged in online chats with others about wanting to have "sex with babies," authorities said Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Joshua Ruiz is one of two dozen people -- including a corporate lawyer and a clerk at a shoe store that caters to children -- charged in Manhattan in recent weeks with having thousands of images of child porn videos and images, including some that investigators said were extremely disturbing and violent.
"These defendants stockpiled images of the brutal rapes and sexual assauilts of tens of thousands of real children," said Manhttan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. "Every time a new image is created, a child is victimized."
Ruiz worked as a substitute teacher at P.S. 199, P.S. 166, P.S. 111 and P.S. 333 since 2008. Investigators said there is no evidence any child was harmed at school.
Ruiz's lawyer said his client denies wrongdoing and he pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Manhattan State Supreme Court.
A Department of Education spokeswoman said Ruiz "was removed from the classroom on May 4 when he was arrested. He had no prior criminal record when he was hired by DOE."
Others arrested included:
- Moshe Gerstein, 35 who works as a corporate attorney at Gibson Dunn who allegedly had 5,000 images on his home computers
- Miguel Caraballo, 29, who worked as a dishwasher at Alice's Tea Cup that prosecutors said caters to children
- Steven Roman, 30, an employee of a children's shoe store in lower Manhattan
- Sefket Jadadic, 47, a building superintendent on the Upper East Side
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assisted in the investigation.
Local
These cases in New York come one day after U.S. Marshals and prosecutors in upstate Sullivan County announced more than a dozen charges against convicted sex offenders who had violated the terms of their release.
Some were charged with possessing child porn while others had failed to register as sex offenders, officials said.
