Ex-Bergen Yeshiva Teacher Pleads Guilty in Child Pornography Case

A former teacher at a Paramus Yeshiva who worked with youth in Teaneck has pleaded guilty to child pornography and exploitation charges, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The ex-Yeshivat Noam teacher, 27-year-old Evan Zauder, used the Internet to entice a 14 to 15-year old in New Jersey to engage in sexual activity two times between April and November of 2011, prosecutors said. Between December 2010 and May 2011, he also amassed a collection of hundreds of videos and pictures showing child pornography stored on four devices seized during an FBI search of his Manhattan apartment in May.

“Evan Zauder’s abuse and exploitation of minors was heinous criminal conduct perpetrated on some of the most vulnerable and powerless members of society,” Manhattan U.S Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Acting on a tip, FBI agents raided Zauder’s apartment and discovered graphic videos on his computer showing young boys engaged in sex acts, court papers filed after his arrest showed.  

Yeshivat Noam, a Modern Orthodox school serving students from Teaneck and across the area, suspended Zauder following his arrest, according to a letter issued to parents. Federal authorities said there was no evidence that Zauder’s crimes involved students at the school.

Zauder has a history of working with young people in New York and New Jersey. He is an ex-youth director at Teaneck’s Congregation Bnai Yeshurun and a former part-time youth director at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York City.

Prosecutors said Zauder pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, one count of transportation, receipt, and distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He faces a possible life sentence on the enticement charge, along with a maximum 20 year prison term on the child pornography distribution charge and ten years for the possession charge.

He will be sentenced May 22 in Manhattan federal court.