Ex-Police Chief, Seton CCD Teacher Jailed for Child Porn
A former Mount Pleasant Police Chief and CCD teacher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shrub Oak was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison for possession of child pornography.
Brian Fanelli, 56, of Mahopac, could have faced four years in jail after pleading guilty July 27 in federal court to the same charge before United States District Judge Kenneth Karas, who imposed the sentence last Wednesday.
In addition to the prison term, Karas sentenced Fanelli to five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit his computer and hard drives which were used to download more than 120 files containing images and videos believed to be child pornography, many of which contained depictions of graphic sexual abuse of young, pre-pubescent victims.
“Brian Fanelli, a former police chief who swore to protect and serve, instead helped fuel a market that victimizes and exploits some of the most vulnerable in our community,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bhahara. “As today’s sentencing demonstrates, we will be vigilant in investigating and prosecuting those who sexually exploit children.”
Fanelli, who worked for Mount Pleasant Police for 32 years and took over as chief November 1, 2013, was arrested in January 2014 by federal Homeland Security investigators. As part of his plea in July federal prosecutors agreed not to seek a jail sentence of more than four years, three months. He could have faced a maximum of 10 years behind bars and a maximum fine of $250,000.
As police chief, Fanelli earned a base salary of $135,518. Reportedly, his annual state pension is $55,831. He served as a lieutenant for 16 years prior to becoming police chief.
The day after he was arrested, Fanelli was removed as a CCD teacher at Seton, where he taught more than 1,000 children over eight years. Fanelli regularly spoke to the church’s schoolchildren about sexual abuse awareness. Before becoming a volunteer teacher he passed required background checks and completed “Safe Environment Training.”
According to the 10-page complaint, which outlined in graphic detail information of the downloaded images, Fanelli allegedly used a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing system starting as early as October 2013 until January 2014, and distributed the images and videos to other network users through his computer’s shared folder.
In November 2013, Department of Homeland Security agents working undercover used software the P2P network to download from Fanelli’s computer files believed to contain child pornography.
The complaint stated that Fanelli voluntarily told law enforcement authorities that for more than a year he had taught sexual abuse awareness classes and began viewing child pornography as research for his classes. However, shortly afterwards he began viewing the images and videos for personal interest.
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