By Anna Gustafson
A former Forest Hills middle school teacher serving two to six years in jail for violating probation after he pleaded guilty to sending sexual messages to adolescent boys online has been rearrested after investigators discovered conversations with minors on his old work computer in Great Neck, L.I., Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said last week.
Bradley Dieffenbacher, 34, of Levittown, L.I., could face up to another seven years in prison if convicted on charges that he used his work computer at the Highway Toll Administration in Great Neck to have sexually explicit instant message conversations with minors, Rice said.
Dieffenbacher formerly taught math at MS 190 in Forest Hills. He was arraigned Nov. 5 in First District Court in Hempstead, L.I., and is due back in court Nov. 12.
“This defendant is in a prison cell where he belongs, and after my office prosecutes this case, I am confident that his sentence will get even longer,” Rice said. “I will continue to doggedly pursue and aggressively prosecute online sexual predators that prey on our children.”
Dieffenbacher resigned from the Forest Hills school in February 2008 and lost his teaching license after he pleaded guilty in June 2008 to sending eight of his 12- and 13-year-old math students sexually explicit messages and forwarded them pornographic links online between April 2007 and February 2008, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The math teacher also asked students to use a Web camera to perform sexual acts, the complaint said.
After losing his teaching license, Dieffenbacher began working for the Highway Toll Administration, a private Great Neck company, Rice said. The HTA in the spring learned Dieffenbacher was using his work computer to have conversations with the minors and he was sentenced to two to six years in prison for violating his probation, Rice said.
After being contacted by the Queens District Attorney’s office, Nassau DA investigators and Nassau police officers discovered 16 explicit instant message conversations on the former teacher’s work computer, according to Rice.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 174.
