Feds: Michael Fazio, a music teacher at W.T. Clarke High School and Middle School in East Meadow, charged with having and distributing child porn

Federal investigators looking into allegations that an East Meadow school district music teacher uploaded child pornography found three images depicting young girls engaged in explicit sexual acts, court documents show.

Michael Fazio, 40, a music teacher at W.T. Clarke High School and Middle School in Westbury, acknowledged that he had uploaded the images to his Dropbox account after investigators searched his Huntington Station home and electronic devices on April 30, the documents said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay ordered Fazio, who was arrested on May 15 and has been charged with receipt and distribution of child pornography, to be released on $500,000 bond during a hearing on Wednesday in Central Islip.

An affidavit prepared by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security special agent said authorities launched their investigation after Dropbox, a file sharing company, notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in October about images uploaded to Fazio's account.

Fazio's attorney, Dennis Lemke of Mineola, said Fazio pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies the allegations.

Although the court papers charge Fazio with receipt and distribution of child pornography, Lemke said prosecutors allege the music teacher only received illicit images, and did not distribute them.

In a letter sent to the East Meadow Union Free School District community on Tuesday, Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said Fazio has not been on school grounds since officials first became aware of the allegations.

"The district has been fully cooperating with law enforcement agencies during their investigation," Rosner said.

Fazio took photos and videos of female students while purportedly engaging in music instruction, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley King said on the record earlier this month in court.

Lemke, however, said the charges have nothing to do with Fazio's students.

In a follow-up message sent to the East Meadow schools community on Thursday, Rosner said that the Department of Homeland Security found that Fazio had possessed photos and videos of students, but the arrest was not related to those materials.

Court documents also do not allege that Fazio had engaged in inappropriate conduct with students.

"It is our understanding that the basis for his arrest is not related to the possession of those photos," Rosner said in the latest letter. "Department of Homeland Security officials, as well as district administrators, have been in touch with the families of those particular students."

According to the court papers, investigators found an older cellphone in Fazio’s basement that revealed the music teacher was allegedly active in a chatgroup in which child sexual abuse material was distributed and discussed. "Over 700 thumbnail images of CSAM (child sex abuse material) contained in this chat have been identified to date in this cellphone," the court papers said.