EX-TEACHER FACES 10 YEARS AFTER GUILTY PLEA IN KIDDIE-PORN CASE

Michael Kelly Reiner, a 46 year old teacher at a Long Island school for gifted students and boasted about having a fetish for young boys, slavery and cannibalism, was arrested for having child-pornography videos on his home computer. He was arrested in the parking lot at Long Island School for the Gifted, in Huntington, after classes in November 2006 following an investigation that began when he was stopped by Canadian Border Patrol officials on August 4. He told them he was entering Canada to visit a friend who shares his affinity for little boys and flesh-eating. He told them he did not actually practice cannibalism. I like kids. They're fun, he told the border agents, I say I'm going to eat them, but I'm only joking. The kids always laugh.  Reiner pleaded not guilty to federal child pornography charges in connection with images investigators say they found on his computers.  He allegedly e-mailed a picture of one of his students to a cannibalism fetishist in California.  Federal prosecutor Allen Bode said that Reiner sent the picture of the unidentified boy using a computer owned by the school.

Parents told a federal judge on October 4 that Reiner was actually a caring and devoted teacher who wouldn't harm anyone.  

Reiner was indicted on October 23 on 10 counts of possessing child pornography as his attorney prepared a defense that claims the images were the result of unwanted e-mail and spam.  

As of November 2, Reiner could be released on bail within 48 hours after a federal magistrate found that electronic monitoring and other restrictions were enough to ensure the protection of children.  Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson recommended that Reiner be released to the custody of his brother at an undisclosed residence.  Reiner should wear an electronic device that would blare and alert authorities to his location if he left the address without notifying them first.

As of March 22, 2007, Reiner pleaded guilty to the federal charge that he possessed child pornography.  He faces up to 10 years in prison and probation when he is sentenced August 10.

(New York)