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Private School Violin Teacher From Somers Faces Child Porn Charges

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A man who taught at Bedford's Rippowam Cisqua School and allegedly downloaded child pornography at his home in Somers appeared to face the charges Friday at White Plains Federal Court.

Nicholas Szucs

Nicholas Szucs

Photo Credit: LinkedIn

Nicholas Szucs possessed, transported and received images and videos containing child pornography from 2012 to 2015, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Szucs, 45, used a peer-to-peer file sharing network to download child porn and searches of an external hard drive and a laptop belonging to Szucs revealed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, Bharara said, adding that Szucs attempted to have the laptop destroyed before law enforcement could seize it.

 “The allegations in this case are particularly disturbing and sad," Bharara said. "A private violin teacher, who works with children, stands accused of allegedly victimizing children. Thanks to the efforts of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, SZUCS’s alleged illicit conduct was brought to light, and he will now have to answer to these serious charges.”

Szucsis is charged with one count each of transporting and of receiving child pornography, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of possessing child pornography, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. 

 Each of the three counts also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

“This music teacher allegedly violated his position of trust and robbed the victims of their innocence," Homeland Security Investigations agent-in-charge Angel M. Melendez said. "HSI agents will continue to police the cyber space to investigate and bring to justice those individuals who exploit the most vulnerable segment of our society- our children.”

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