Editor’s note: This article is by Todd Wellington of The Caledonian Record, in which it was first published Nov. 22, 2013.
A St. Johnsbury Academy teacher has been arrested and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography.
Jose E. Bruzual, 49, pleaded not guilty to the felony charges in Caledonia Superior Court Thursday. Judge Robert Bent set bail at $35,000 with 10 percent down and conditions of release prohibiting Bruzual from using computers or the Internet. Bent also ordered Bruzual to have no contact with minor children and to not be within 100 feet of minor children.
Bruzual, who according to prosecutors is not a United States citizen, was also ordered to turn over his passport and enhanced drivers license. He was then lodged at Northeast Regional Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury where he remained in custody Thursday evening.
Bruzual was arrested by detectives from the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Thursday morning. They said they found five images on Bruzual’s desktop computer depicting minor females in sexual situations and being sexually assaulted.
Vermont Assistant Attorney General Evan Meenan told the court at arraignment that investigators will now do a more thorough examination of Bruzual’s computer.
“There could be more charges after the forensic examination is completed,” said Meenan.
St. Johnsbury Academy Headmaster Tom Lovett said Thursday afternoon that Bruzual has been placed on administrative leave by the school and has been served with an order of no trespassing on school property.
“We are cooperating with the investigation and there’s no reason to believe from anyone that any of our students were involved,” said Lovett.
Bruzual taught a class in robotics at the private high school and was a dorm proctor living in Academy housing at 149 Belvedere St.
Police said Bruzual lived with his family in the first floor of the duplex and was proctor to four academy students living in the second floor apartment.
Bruzual was arrested after the ICAC investigators arrived at his residence at 6 a.m. Thursday with a search warrant.
According to an affidavit filed by ICAC Det. Robert Snetsinger, the investigation began on Oct. 2 while Snetsinger was conducting an “undercover operation” on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing network.
“I noted at that time that on multiple dates an individual utilizing the IP address 71.80.41.14 was possessing, and/or offering to distribute, in whole or in part digital files containing known child pornography,” wrote Snetsinger. “I was able to view five of the digital files and I verified the files depicted what appears to be child pornography.”
The task force traced the IP Address to Bruzual’s campus residence and said that when they arrived with the warrant Bruzual admitted knowing about peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as Gnutella and Shareaza but initially denied using them. Police said Bruzual then grew increasingly nervous as they questioned him about his Internet use and then suddenly confessed.
“Bruzual then admitted to us that he had been using Shareaza to download child pornography using a desktop computer he had set up in the basement,” wrote Snetsinger in his report.
According to the affidavit, Bruzual then allowed police into his home and showed them the computer where he had downloaded the images. Police said they were then able to conduct an “onsite forensic preview” of the computer which allegedly turned up five images depicting girls “estimated to be under five years old,” according to the affidavit.
“Bruzual claimed to have never touched any children and expressed concern about his situation with his wife and with his employment,” wrote Snetsinger.
Meenan said Bruzual was a citizen of Venezuela with permanent residence status but was not a United States citizen.
Each count against Bruzual carries a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.