Three Teachers Face Child-Exploitation Charges

Three separate cases involving school employees were advanced this week. In New York, 40-year-old music teacher Michael Fazio of W.T. Clarke Middle and High School pleaded guilty in federal court after a Dropbox tip and searches of his home and phones uncovered three uploaded images plus more than 700 additional child‑pornography images and surreptitious recordings of some students; prosecutors said he kept a hidden folder of adult pornography and that possession of images depicting students was not the basis for his arrest, and he faces up to 20 years in prison. In Florida, 41-year-old resource teacher Daniel Armando Munive Viruet of Manatee Elementary was arrested, jailed without bond and placed on administrative leave on charges of possessing child pornography and images of sexual activity with an animal; the district says it is cooperating with authorities, believes no local students were involved, has offered counseling and says he has not been on campus since Sept. 22, 2025. In New Jersey, 27-year-old Jack Wilder pleaded guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography after agents seized a phone at a New York-area airport and later found he used a second phone to receive additional files; court documents allege he communicated with a 16-year-old via a mobile payment app offering money for sexual activity and received explicit images, and he faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison with sentencing scheduled for Jan. 26, 2026 as part of Project Safe Childhood. Authorities emphasized victim protection and said investigations and sentencing proceedings are continuing.