EX-ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF N.Y.C. HIGH SCHOOL
SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR
INTERNET SEX CRIMES INVOLVING MINORS

MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that STEVEN MARK RUBINSTEIN, a former Assistant Principal at the Murry Bergtraum High School in New York City, was sentenced today in White Plains federal court to 10 years’ imprisonment for trading child pornography and for attempting to entice two minors to meet with him to engage in sexual activities.

According to statements made in court, RUBINSTEIN engaged in a series of sexually explicit conversations, via an Internet Relay Chat room, with two separate undercover officers who he believed were 13-year-old girls. RUBINSTEIN engaged in these communications using his school work station as well as a home computer in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Among other things, RUBINSTEIN told the persons he believed were minor girls that in the past had engaged in sex with a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl. After establishing a relationship with the girls he believed were minors, RUBINSTEIN then asked them to meet with him in order to engage in sexual activities.

According to statements made in court proceedings, when federal agents searched RUBINSTEIN’s residence and seized his computer equipment, RUBINSTEIN admitted to attempting to meet with the “girls” and stated that the only reason that he didn’t follow through was because subsequent scrutiny of the conversations led him to suspect that the “girls” might be undercover officers.

In addition, RUBINSTEIN admitted to downloading and trading images of child pornography over the internet. According to statements made in court, the images seized from RUBINSTEIN’s computer include depictions of minors engaging in sexual intercourse with adults. Some of the minor child victims have been identified by law enforcement authorities.

In imposing a 10-year sentence, United States District Judge COLLEEN MCMAHON stated that the defendant is “every parent’s nightmare” because he was part of the educational establishment, worked with children daily, and had a perverse sexual interest in young people. She described his conduct as “vile.” Judge McMahon noted that the defendant had betrayed the school system by using its computers to engage in some of his offense conduct, and had betrayed his family and friends.

She recommended that the Bureau of Prisons place the defendant into one of its intensive therapeutic programs for sex offenders. Judge MCMAHON also imposed a term of 5 years of supervised release to start following the completion of the jail sentence.

Prior to his incarceration RUBINSTEIN, 50, resided in Poughkeepsie, New York. Mr. GARCIA praised the collaborative investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Computer Crime Task Force.

Mr. GARCIA also thanked the New York City Board of Education for its assistance and technical support throughout the course of the investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney CYNTHIA K. DUNNE is in charge of the prosecution. 06-173

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