A New York teacher who was arrested on Sept. 14 allegedly told an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old that he “prefers” underage girls, Fox News reported.
The teacher, Kostas Fekkas, 34, was the target of a three-month Homeland Security undercover sting where, besides allegedly stating that he preferred young girls, he also reportedly said he had sex “with a 10th grader once,” according to a criminal complaint filed by Homeland Security.
Authorities investigating the case allegedly discovered an app on Fekkas’ phone made to look like a calculator that had sexual images and child pornography from a 12-year-old girl hidden on it, Fox News reported. (RELATED: Police Accuse Man Of Committing Sex Crimes Against Teen Girls While Posing As A Student)
A New York teacher is accused of soliciting explicit images from a 13-year-old girl in an undercover FBI operation. Kostas Fekkas, who taught at multiple schools in New York, was caught after investigators found graphic sexual messages and child… https://t.co/LK7Ji7iaGg
— AM1_NEWS (@am1_news) September 23, 2023
Fekkas allegedly engaged in a conversation with an undercover agent named “Riley” who told the teacher, “I’m in 8th [grade].” Fekkas reportedly responded, “Cool. I usually cut off at 9th grade but you’re insanely gorgeous… Really wish I taught you. You’d be right in front so I could see your pretty little face real close,” according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators found the explicit exchanges on an app called “HideU,” Fox News reported. According to court documents, the app allows a user to hide files on a cellphone app that looks like a functioning calculator.
Fekkas allegedly used the mobile app Kik to introduce himself as “C.J. Justice,” a 30-year-old high school physics teacher, the criminal complaint shows. In addition, Fekkas allegedly sent numerous pictures of himself to “Riley” and, according to the complaint, “These photographs of ‘C.J.’ bear a close resemblance to a photograph of FEKKAS that was publicly available on the website of a high school in Manhattan where FEKKAS teaches.”
“Kostas Fekkas’s alleged conduct is despicable,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “As a teacher, Fekkas was entrusted with the care and well-being of children, who he in turn allegedly sought to victimize.”
Currently, Fekkas is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, each carrying a mandatory 20 year sentence, and attempted transfer of obscene material, carrying a 10 year maximum sentence, Fox News reported.