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Westchester Police Chief Arrested On Child Porn Charges Used To Teach Kids About Sex Abuse
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 1, 2014
Modified Feb 1, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 1, 2014
Modified Feb 1, 2014
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A Westchester police chief who was arrested on child pornography charges earlier this month used to teach children about "inappropriate touching," according to a new report.
Today, the Times ran a profile on Brian Fanelli, who was appointed chief of the Mount Pleasant Police Department in November. He was arrested on January 23rd after investigators say they found over 120 pornographic files on his computers, with images featuring girls as young as 7 years old. Since his arrest, the 54-year-old Fanelli, who is married with two grown children, has been suspended with pay—he was also admitted to a local hospital, allegedly because he was suicidal.
And Fanelli was tossed from his volunteer job at a local church, where he led catechism classes for fifth graders and taught young children to recognize sex abuse, instructing them not to allow anyone to touch them in their "bathing suit" area. His arrest on child pornography charges naturally rattled parents. "I felt very betrayed," Alyssa Monteleone, the mother of one of Fanelli's former students, told the Times. "He stands right up there and teaches, and he was doing it himself."
Fanelli, who was caught after allegedly using a peer-to-peer-file sharing program to download the pornography, has been with the department for over 30 years; according to a criminal complaint, he allegedly told cops he started looking at child porn for "research" for the church classes, and continued out of “personal interest.”. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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