Federal Agent’s Hunch Leads to Child Porn Charges for Former Hicksville Lutheran School Teacher

Rice, Mulvey and DHS: Spring possessed dozens of sexually explicit pictures on home computer

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey announced today that a joint investigation performed by their offices and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has led to the arrest of a former Lutheran school teacher who authorities say possessed dozens of images of child pornography on a computer in his East Meadow home.

John Spring, 57, was arrested Thursday morning by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Crimes Against Property Squad and agents from DHS. He has been charged with 12 counts of Possession of a Sexual Performance by a Child. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted. He will be arraigned later today in First District Court, Hempstead.

Rice said that the investigation into Spring began in August 2007 when a federal agent at the Eisenhower Park Aquatic Center noticed Spring standing on the pool deck acting suspiciously. Spring was not wearing swimming clothes, was staring at young males, and following them into the locker room. This heightened the suspicions of the federal agent, who confirmed with the pool’s lifeguards that the defendant often acted in this manner.

In November 2007, agents with the DHS/Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations approached Spring at his East Meadow home. At that time, Spring told the agents of his attraction to young teenage males, and indicated that his home computer might contain illegal images of a graphic sexual nature. When seized and forensically examined by law enforcement, 39 sexually explicit images of underage boys were discovered on Spring’s personal computer. The images were then reviewed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to determine if any of the images were of children who have previously been identified. After yielding no positive identifications, the case was presented to local authorities in early 2009.

Spring is a former seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Hicksville. He started working at the school in 1974 and resigned in December 2007 after DHS informed the school’s principal of the investigation and computer search.

“Protecting our children from sexual predators like Mr. Spring is my office’s highest priority,” Rice said. “I must commend the work of the Nassau County Police Crimes Against Property Squad who made the arrest and the federal agent whose gut instincts and subsequent investigation led to it. They have done our community a great service.”

“It is always disturbingwhenever innocent children fall prey to criminal behavior, but itis alsoencouraging whenthe law enforcement communitycan coordinateits effortsso we canapprehend those individuals responsible for these egregious acts,” Commissioner Mulvey said. “Icommend the dedication and commitment of the investigators in thiscaseand I'm confident that our District Attorney willprosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law"

“The exploitation of children is a despicable crime. The arrest of Mr. Spring is particularly troubling because of his position of trust with young people,” said Peter J. Smith, special agent-in-charge of ICE’s Office of Investigation in New York. “This arrest underscores ICE's commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to search out predators who sexually exploit innocent children.”

Handling the case for the DA’s office is Assistant District Attorney Guido Gabriele of the DA’s Economic Crimes Bureau. Spring is being represented by Bruce Barkett, Esq. 

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.