Coach Sexually Exploited Kids, Distributed Child Porn: DOJ Alleges

EASTCHESTER, NY — An Eastchester teacher is accused of using his position of trust to sexually exploit young people he was supposed to be helping to develop.

Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the arrest of 28-year-old Thomas James Puccini, of Eastchester, for the sexual exploitation of three minors and for receiving and distributing child pornography. He was arrested on Wednesday and presented before a judge in White Plains federal court before being detained.

Puccini was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, with each count carrying fifteen to thirty years in prison. The fourth count carries five to twenty years in prison.

"Thomas James Puccini's alleged crimes are every parent’s nightmare," Clayton said. "Puccini, a football coach, held himself out as a trusted member of his school community, yet he was preying on our most innocent and vulnerable. The women and men of the Southern District will use every tool available to bring to justice those who exploit our children."

SEE ALSO: DA Seeks Other Possible Sex Abuse Victims Of School Athletic Director

Warning: The allegations below from federal court filings may be disturbing to readers.

According to federal and county court documents, Puccini worked as a football coach at Eastchester High School. In July of 2024, he became the Interim Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics for the Eastchester Union Free School District.

In November 2021, a victim, who was a 17-year-old high school student, was contacted by a Snapchat account with the name "alex_fundi2." The teen received a nude image of a female from "alex_fundi2" and believed that he was communicating with a female. "She" told him that she knew him and went to his school. The victim sent "her" nude photos of himself, including photos of his penis. After sending images for approximately a week or two, the teen blocked the "alex_fundi2" account, but then received messages from a CashApp account ("CashTag-1") telling the victim to add "alex_fundi2" back.

The messages said "I have your pics and vids," and told the victim to "add me or I send your pics." The teen then unblocked "alex_fundi2" and continued to send sexually explicit images to "alex_fundi2" until 2023, when he was a freshman in college.

The DOJ says that the user of CashTag-1 provided CashApp with the name "Thomas Puccini," Puccini's date of birth, and Puccini's Westchester address. Snapchat records relating to the "alex_fundi2" account show that an IP address traced to Puccini's home in Westchester was used over 13,000 times to access the "alex_fundi2" account. In addition, the "alex_fundi2" account is associated with an email that begins with "puccini01" and ends in ".edu."

Another victim and other middle school students used the high school's weight room to prepare for Junior Varsity football, where Puccini supervised them. Beginning when the victim was 13 years old and in eighth grade, Puccini communicated with the teen through Snapchat, using a Snapchat account with the user name, "tommytutts66," and asked the middle schooler to take and send photos and videos of his penis.

Puccini also sent the victim photos of his own penis. Puccini told the teen exactly what he wanted the middle schooler to show him, and, based on his instructions, the teen, on several occasions, took and sent Puccini photos and videos showing various angles of his penis, showing the school-age-child masturbating and ejaculating with the audio on, and showing him laying with his semen on his chest, according to the allegations. On several occasions, at Puccini's request, Puccini and the victim would "race" to see who could masturbate to ejaculation first. The winner would then have to send a video or photo capturing the "finish."

A search warrant executed at Puccini's home on November 1, 2024 led to the seizure of several items, including Puccini's desktop computer, which contained an iCloud backup with around 8000 messages to or from one of the victims, between January 2017 and December 2020. In hundreds of these messages, Puccini referred to masturbating, to the victim's penis, and/or requested that his victim take and send him photos of his penis.

According to the court filings, a third accuser, who was 16 years old, and "alex_fundi2" communicated via Snapchat in 2023. The 16-year-old took and sent sexually explicit images to "alex_fundi2" in exchange for the promise of expensive gifts. On January 10, 2023, around 11:24 p.m., "alex_fundi2" told this victim, "If I send you for the jacket, I’m going to need you to send those 2 vids and then…. As many vids as I want and of anything that I want until Monday." At 11:25 p.m., the teen responded, "monday" and "jesus" and "and as long as it doesn’t involve ass stuff." Afterwards, the teen transmitted several files to "alex_fundi2" containing sexually explicit images of himself.

According to the allegations, a fourth accuser and "alex_fundi2" communicated via Snapchat in 2023. This victim told "alex_fundi2" that he was 18 years old and "alex_fundi2" told him that he was similarly aged. "Alex_fundi2" asked for sexually explicit images of the victim when he was 15 or 16. On June 11, 2023, around 1:50 p.m., the teen sent a sexually explicit photo and a sexually explicit video of himself to "alex_fundi2." In both the photo and video, the victim was 15, feds say.

In February 2022, the "alex_fundi2" account communicated with a user on Snapchat and asked, "Can I give you a snapchat to add and you try to get pics/vids from the account?" The user told "alex_fundi2," "Sure" and "I don’t mind being yo undercover bud." Afterwards, "alex_fundi2" sent this user a Snapchat user name, belonging to a student who had attended the high school from 2015 to 2019. Puccini's desktop computer had thousands of messages with that student from August 2015 to September 2020, several of which contained requests for sexually explicit images from the student.

In November 2024, Puccini was charged in Westchester County with fourth-degree grand larceny.

"For months, our criminal investigators worked hard to build the strongest possible case against the defendant, and today's federal charges are the product of these efforts," Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace said. "I extend my thanks to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton for his collaboration and partnership on this case. Our office will continue to assist S.D.N.Y. throughout all phases of Mr. Puccini's prosecution."

On several occasions, according to prosecutors, Puccini changed the display name of the "alex_fundi2" account to various other display names, including "Young & Horny," "Young NY Vers Bottom Horny," "Zach," "Alexandra Fundi,” "Alex Fundi," "Horny Twink," and "zach _parker0."

The DOJ says there may be more victims of this alleged conduct. If anyone have information to report or had contact with the Snapchat accounts, "alex_fundi2," "tommytuts66," or any of the other display names Puccini used, they are encouraged to contact Homeland Security Investigations through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing-impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

"As alleged, the defendant violated parents' and students' trust through his vile acts against children. A wolf in sheep's clothing, he worked closely with kids and teenagers nearly every day, all allegedly while hiding his shameful dark side of exploitation, and committing crimes against the same minors placed under his care," HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge James Manning said. "The abhorrent crimes of which he is accused have no place in our society, and I commend HSI New York’s Hudson Valley investigators, alongside our law enforcement partners, for placing the safety of vulnerable New Yorkers above all else."

Clayton praised the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, the Westchester County Police Department, the Eastchester Police Department, the Rockland Police Department, the Lake Forest Police Department, and the Cullman County Sheriff's Office.