US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damien Williams, announced on April 5, that Jonathan Skolnick pled guilty today to child enticement and possession of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon who will also sentence the defendant.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Jonathan Skolnick, a teacher and former middle school associate principal, admitted today to reprehensible crimes connected to his coercing of own students, minor children, to sending him nude photos of themselves. No parent should ever need to worry about the safety of their children from child predators when sending them off to school; I commend our law enforcement partners for their efforts in bringing Skolnick’s career as an educator to an end.”
According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court:
Between in or around August 2012 and in or around June 2018, SKOLNICK worked as a high school teacher at a school in Brooklyn, New York (“School-1”). In or around July 2018, SKOLNICK became an associate principal at a middle school in the Bronx, New York (“School-2”), where he worked until in or around September 2019.
Over the course of approximately seven years, SKOLNICK induced, enticed, and coerced minor children (the “Minor Victims”) to send him nude and sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves over the Internet. SKOLNICK abused his position of trust as a teacher and mentor at School-1 and School-2 in order to access Minor Victims.
Between in or around 2012 and in or around September 2019, the Minor Victims sent SKOLNICK nude and sexually explicit photographs and videos that he possessed.
SKOLNICK, 39, of the Bronx, New York, pled guilty to: (1) one count of child enticement, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and (2) one count of possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. Sentencing is scheduled for September 22, 2022.
