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Taleek Brooks Made Child Porn at NY School: FBI

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on February 08, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A Brooklyn teacher's aide faces more federal charges in connection with a growing child-pornography scandal. Taleek Brooks made child-porn videos with students, possibly at Public School 243 where he worked, prosecutors allege.

Brooks, 40, was charged last month with possession and distribution of child pornography, The New York Times reports. He was arrested again Monday after investigators found some allegedly abusive videos at his home.

The videos show Brooks touching a young boy's genitals and spanking a naked child at P.S. 243 in Crown Heights, The Times reports. Parents are shocked.

"He's a good person. I don't believe it," one P.S. 243 parent told The Times. Taleek Brooks was well-liked, and even accompanied children on outings, parents said.

An FBI investigation of a file-sharing program led authorities to Brooks' alleged collection of more than 1,000 child-porn files, The Times reports. Brooks was released on $100,000 bail last month; he was also suspended from his job.

In court on Tuesday, the judge who set Brooks' bail lamented setting him free. "Had the evidence been before me a month ago showing he was a predator, there was no way I would have released him on any bail package," the judge said, according to The Times.

Child pornography is illegal under federal law, which calls for criminal penalties. Another federal law, the Crime Victims' Rights Act, allows a court to make pornographers pay restitution to child victims, if their actions caused harm to the children.

Taleek Brooks remains in custody without bail. If convicted, Brooks faces up to 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography. He may also face mandatory sentences of five years for distributing child porn, and 15 years for allegedly producing the videos at P.S. 243.

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