Midwood High School paraprofessional accused of child pornography, sextortion

By: News 12 Staff

A high school paraprofessional in Midwood has been charged with child pornography and sextortion, according to authorities.

Police say Brian Quinones worked as a paraprofessional at Midwood High School just months ago and was arrested Wednesday. At this time, there is no evidence showing that any students were victims, but it is reported Quinones enticed minors to send him sexually explicit videos on apps like WhatsApp and then threatened to publicly release them.

Midwood High School removed Quinones as an employer last October when they learned about the investigation. The 11-count indictment against the 30-year-old includes charges relating to sexual exploitation of a child, distribution of child pornography, and cyberstalking.

The United States Attorney Breon Peace describes how Quinones lured children in saying, “as alleged, Quinones was a prolific trader of child pornography who posed as a woman in order to solicit sexually explicit videos from a minor boy, then blackmailed the victim with cruel threats to post the material on the internet.”

The New York City Department of Education say, “We will work with the FBI as they investigate these extremely disturbing allegations, and if convicted, we will move to terminate him.”

If convicted, Quinones could face a mandatory minimum of fifteen years in jail. At this hour, the FBI believes that there may still be more victims out there that may have been exploited by Quinones and are asking anyone with information to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.