Queens Middle School Teacher Arrested On Child Porn Charges

RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS — A middle school teacher in Queens was arrested for downloading and sharing child pornography, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Ridgewood public school teacher Eric Paulino, 30, used the VenMo app to buy, download and trade child porn on his cell phone, according to federal prosecutors and a New York Daily News report.

Paulino started his teaching career at IS 187 and has worked at IS 93 Ridgewood since 2018, according to the Daily News.

FBI special agents found sexually explicit images and videos of children on Paulino's iPhone after he allegedly admitted to downloading and trading child porn, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York.

Defense lawyer Jeffery Greco told the Daily News there's no evidence Paulino downloaded or viewed the child porn on school grounds.

"While he was at work and on school grounds, they're saying that there's no evidence that that happened, and there's no allegations he had done anything inappropriate with any students of his," Greco told the Daily News. "It's a distinction that I think is important in a case like this."

Department of Education staffers are reassigning Paulino so he won't interact with students, a spokesperson told the Daily News.

Paulino was released Tuesday on $250,000 bond.