10-year sentence for former Locust Valley teacher caught in child predator sting
A former Locust Valley Middle School teacher caught in an FBI sting seeking child predators on the internet was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison. Credit: Barry Sloan
A former Locust Valley Middle School teacher caught in an FBI sting seeking child predators on the internet was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison.
Charles Bull of Sea Cliff pleaded guilty last November to second-degree attempted criminal sex act. He has already spent more than four years in the Nassau County jail since his arrest, which occurred in July 2019 after he showed up at a Melville hotel intent on having sex with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old boy — but who was actually an FBI agent.
Wearing orange jail clothes in a Central Islip federal courtroom Monday, Bull referenced the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran as he told Judge Joanna Seybert he had become close to God during his four years of being incarcerated. Bull said he used bad judgment in the past but has learned to steer away from “darkness.” He has learned humility and gratitude, Bull said.
“My time incarcerated has been a time of renewal,” he told the judge.
Bull also said he has written 100 musical compositions since his arrest and is now an avid runner. “My God,” he told Seybert, “is a god of comebacks.”
While it was notable that Bull had become a better person since his arrest, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Scotti, he has not shown remorse for what the prosecutor called an “extremely serious” crime. Although there is no evidence that Bull had sex with a child, a tough sentence was warranted, Scotti said.
“This was not bad judgment,” the prosecutor said. “This was dangerous, abhorrent conduct.”
Bull had served as a teaching assistant and a replacement teacher for the Locust Valley school district. He faced up to life in prison.
The FBI was investigating the use of predators on a chat room named “LongIslandDLMenOnly” on KIK, a mobile app that bills itself as “the only chat platform built especially for teens," according to the court papers.
An undercover law enforcement officer “posted that he was on vacation with his son and looking for things to do,” the court papers said.
Bull replied with the user name “bullmusik,” and during continuing online conversations, he asked the “father” about his and his “son’s” orientation, and the “son’s” age, the papers said. An undercover officer posing as the father told Bull that the “son” was 13 years old, the papers continued, and Bull said he was interested in having sex with the “son.”
Bull then met with the undercover officer at an unidentified Farmingdale coffee shop and was shown a picture, ostensibly of the “son,” and later had online chats with both the “father” and "son,” the papers said.
The next day, according to the court papers, Bull showed up at an unidentified Melville hotel with the intention of having sex with a 13-year-old boy.
Bull was arrested by agents as he went to the room where the boy supposedly was, the court papers said. He confessed after being read his Miranda rights, the papers said.
A former Locust Valley Middle School teacher caught in an FBI sting seeking child predators on the internet was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison.
Charles Bull of Sea Cliff pleaded guilty last November to second-degree attempted criminal sex act. He has already spent more than four years in the Nassau County jail since his arrest, which occurred in July 2019 after he showed up at a Melville hotel intent on having sex with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old boy — but who was actually an FBI agent.
Wearing orange jail clothes in a Central Islip federal courtroom Monday, Bull referenced the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran as he told Judge Joanna Seybert he had become close to God during his four years of being incarcerated. Bull said he used bad judgment in the past but has learned to steer away from “darkness.” He has learned humility and gratitude, Bull said.
“My time incarcerated has been a time of renewal,” he told the judge.
Bull also said he has written 100 musical compositions since his arrest and is now an avid runner. “My God,” he told Seybert, “is a god of comebacks.”
While it was notable that Bull had become a better person since his arrest, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Scotti, he has not shown remorse for what the prosecutor called an “extremely serious” crime. Although there is no evidence that Bull had sex with a child, a tough sentence was warranted, Scotti said.
“This was not bad judgment,” the prosecutor said. “This was dangerous, abhorrent conduct.”
Bull had served as a teaching assistant and a replacement teacher for the Locust Valley school district. He faced up to life in prison.
The FBI was investigating the use of predators on a chat room named “LongIslandDLMenOnly” on KIK, a mobile app that bills itself as “the only chat platform built especially for teens," according to the court papers.
An undercover law enforcement officer “posted that he was on vacation with his son and looking for things to do,” the court papers said.
Bull replied with the user name “bullmusik,” and during continuing online conversations, he asked the “father” about his and his “son’s” orientation, and the “son’s” age, the papers said. An undercover officer posing as the father told Bull that the “son” was 13 years old, the papers continued, and Bull said he was interested in having sex with the “son.”
Bull then met with the undercover officer at an unidentified Farmingdale coffee shop and was shown a picture, ostensibly of the “son,” and later had online chats with both the “father” and "son,” the papers said.
The next day, according to the court papers, Bull showed up at an unidentified Melville hotel with the intention of having sex with a 13-year-old boy.
Bull was arrested by agents as he went to the room where the boy supposedly was, the court papers said. He confessed after being read his Miranda rights, the papers said.
