Melville man showed 3 teens pornography during driving lesson, police say

A driving school instructor faces charges after he allegedly showed pornography to three teenagers during a driving lesson in Smithtown last month, Suffolk County police said.

On Dec. 22, while driving and instructing three 16-year-old males, Mitchell Lerner, 75, of Melville, showed the teens pornographic videos and images on a phone, Suffolk police said. The arrest followed a tip and a subsequent investigation, police said.

Lerner, an employee of Defensive Driving School in Central Islip, was arrested at his home on Sunday at 3:28 p.m. and charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, police said in a news release.

Police issued Lerner an appearance ticket; he is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date, police said.

Barry Becker, the owner of the school, said in an online message Lerner has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. 

In addition to its Central Islip location on Wheeler Road, the driving school that advertises itself as "Long Island's Premier Driving School" for 50 years, operates a classroom on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station, according to its website and voicemail. 

Investigators ask anyone with additional information or who believes he or she may have been a victim of this alleged crime to call Third Precinct Investigative Unit officers at 631-854-8326.