A Jersey City high school English teacher and Zumba instructor was arrested after investigators found 42 child pornography videos on his cloud account, and the district cut his access.
The Post reported that Alton F. Brown, 41, an English teacher at arts magnet school Henry Snyder High, was busted on Sept. 8 for possession of child pornography.
Google tipped investigators that Brown uploaded a child pornography video to his cloud account, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators got a warrant and found one photo and 42 videos of child porn on the account, court documents said.
Cops then searched his home, arrested him, and took two of his cell phones. He faces one count of the knowing possession, viewing, or control of child sexual abuse material or child pornography and was due in Hudson County court Thursday.
Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Norma Fernandez said the district “immediately” placed Brown on leave and “revoked all access to district facilities, electronic networks, and learning platforms” after learning of the allegations. She did not say whether the leave was paid or unpaid.
Fernandez also said Brown had not been working in the role this academic year.
"The individual has not been active in his role during the current academic year,"
Fernandez said. She tied the district’s next steps to student safety and the open case.
"As student safety and well-being remain our highest priorities, the District will cooperate fully with law enforcement,"
she said, adding the district would not offer more comment while the inquiry and personnel matter remained open.
"Because this concern involves an ongoing law enforcement inquiry and a confidential personnel issue, the District will refrain from offering additional comments presently."
Even so, Brown was still listed on the school staff page as of Wednesday afternoon. He also worked as a Zumba dance-exercise instructor at the Bethune Center in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood. He could not be reached for comment, and it was not clear whether he had a lawyer.
In 2015, city council honored Brown for donating a kidney to his father, a local neighborhood association post said. That record now sits beside a felony child-pornography charge built on a Google tip, a warrant, and dozens of files recovered from his account.
Parents send kids to school expecting adults in the building to protect them. When a teacher is charged with hoarding child sexual abuse material, the bare minimum is swift removal, full cooperation with police, and zero confusion about who still has keys, logins, or a staff-page listing.
