Michael Fazio, former W.T. Clarke High School music teacher, pleads guilty to possessing child pornography

A former East Meadow school district music teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday in Long Island federal court to downloading child pornography on his personal computer.

Michael Fazio, 40, who taught at W.T. Clarke High School and Middle School in Westbury, was arrested in May after federal child exploitation investigators received a tip that he had uploaded three sexually explicit images of underage girls to his Dropbox account.

Agents raided Fazio’s house on April 30, following up on an October tip that came into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a national nonprofit that helps missing, abducted and exploited children, according to Debra Gerbasi, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security.

She said Fazio admitted downloading the images after being informed of his right to remain silent.

After agents searched his Huntington Station home, they found another, older cellphone in his basement showing he was active on a child pornography Kik Messenger chat group, according to Gerbasi’s affidavit.

She said authorities found an additional 700 thumbnail images of child pornography on Fazio’s phone.

Investigators also found photos of students from the Westbury school on his devices; however, school officials in a May 22 letter to parents said they were not related to the charges.

"The Department of Homeland Security has revealed that the employee possessed photos/videos of several students taken during the school day. It is our understanding that the basis for his arrest is not related to the possession of those photos/videos," Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said in his letter.

In another letter dated two days earlier, Rosner said Fazio had not returned to the school since his May 15 arrest.

"Fazio possessed unthinkable graphic images of child sexual abuse, all while employed in a position of trust as a middle and high school music teacher," said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Joseph Nocella Jr. "Prosecuting those who victimize children by feeding the market for child pornography will always be a top priority." 

At the Thursday hearing, U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury explained to Fazio his rights to a trial, saying he could not appeal his conviction once he entered his plea.

After pleading guilty, Fazio told the court that "between October 2024 and April 2025, I possessed images of children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual conduct." Specifically, he mentioned a photo of a 12-year-old girl.

Long Island federal prosecutor Bradley King said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is in the process of identifying the victims in the photos to determine the mandatory restitution in the case.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Fazio faces 6½ to 8 years behind bars, but since he has never been arrested before for possession of child pornography, there is no requirement that he serve any prison time, the judge said.

"Mr. Fazio has lost everything as a result of his possession of child pornography," defense attorney Dennis Lemke told Newsday outside the courtroom. "He’s accepted responsibility. His next phase in turning his life around will be sentencing."

The former music teacher is scheduled to be back in court March 25 for sentencing.