By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — A Manhattan elementary school teacher and summer camp counselor was charged with having a "voluminous" amount of child pornography on the computer in his bedroom, federal authorities said Thursday.
John Edward Thomas, 28, who had been working at the 92nd Street Y as a camp counselor this summer, was allegedly caught with 43 CDs worth of pornographic photos and videos, which prosecutors said he shared on "peer to peer" Internet sites.
Thomas, who has been a fourth and fifth-grade teacher for five years, was scheduled to start a teaching post at the Bank Street School in Morningside Heights next month.
The alleged child porn collector most recently taught at Horace Mann School in the Bronx, and also taught for one year at the Friends Seminary in Gramercy, his lawyer said Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein ordered Thomas to notify Bank Street administrators about the allegations so they can determine whether to terminate his employment.
If they decide not to fire him, it's "a complete given" that his job cannot involve contact with children, the judge promised.
“It’s absolutely clear that he should not be around children,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Bauer said, arguing that Thomas should be banned from "areas where children congregate."
"It's not appropriate for someone with that amount of child pornography, for that person to be teaching kids," Bauer added.
Thomas's lawyer, Michael Hurwitz, argued the teacher should be released on bail without restrictions because the allegations do not go beyond possession of images and videos.
Thursday afternoon Thomas was released on a $50,000 bail bond and was ordered to stay away from areas heavily populated with children like schools, camps and parks.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, in addition to a $250,000 fine.
