A Brooklyn teacher has pleaded not guilty to child porn charges.
Jonathan Deutsch allegedly reached out to vulnerable children on Facebook and convinced them to send him explicit videos and pictures of themselves to him.
Students were blindsided by the news.
"Honestly, he was my favorite teacher. I looked forward to his class every single day but the news was such a shock to me. I don't know how I can trust teachers anymore after this. I feel so weirded out, creeped out, that such a nice, honest man could've done such a thing. I'm just in shock," 16-year-old student Lata told WOR's Alice Stockton-Rossini.
The kids were between the ages of 10 and 16. Deutsch is a teacher at the Leon Goldstein High School for the Sciences and allegedly made contact with at least 45 children.
"He never showed any signs of this. He was always so nice and understanding and honestly, we're all in shock," Lata said.
The Department of Education called the allegations “extremely disturbing.” They said he’s no longer in contact with any students and they’re working to terminate him.
"Nobody could tell that he does this thing in his free time. He was friendly with everybody in the school," 16-year-old Constantine said.
Students said it wasn't until December when Deutsch suddenly disappeared that they realized something might be wrong. They said the school never offered an explanation.
Only one student that Stockton-Rossini talked to had any previous concerns about Deutsch. Aaya said he was close to a lot of female students.
"I just didn't like him. I just didn't feel comfortable, but a lot of my friends did" Aaya said.
Photo Credit: Alice Stockton-Rossini