Assistant principal at Queens Technical High School in Long Island City arrested for arranging Grindr meeting with 14 year old boy

A New York City assistant principal planned a sexual encounter with a 14 year old boy on Grindr and instead found himself facing an adult who filmed the encounter and uploaded it on Youtube. Earlier this year, 40 year old Claudio Garcia who works at Queens Technical High School in Long Island City as an assistant principal, was on Grindr and starting to chat with a boy who told him first that he was 18 but then said he was actually 14. Garcia then planned a meeting with him in a park that was supposedly near the boy’s Bronx house. When he arrived at the meeting, an adult man was there. The encounter was filmed and posted on YouTube.

The Police recently arrested Garcia and brought him to the 52nd Precinct to be questioned. He was then charged with attempted criminal sex act and disseminating indecent materials to minors.

Garcia was arraigned yesterday night in Bronx criminal court. While the DA consented to release Garcia without bail, Judge Audrey Stone ordered Garcia to be on supervised release. “Given the nature of Mr. Garcia’s status within the community and the very serious charges here, I believe supervised release at a minimum would be appropriate,” the judge said. “Mr. Garcia, I want to explain to you that I understand that the D.A.’s office is requesting release without any conditions, however, these are very significant changes.”

Earlier this year, when the Queens Technical High School learned about the inappropriate behavior of their assistant principal, they immediately removed him from the classrooms. The school is now pursuing termination.

While the vast majorities of  school staff  are dedicated employees who work on making sure the school is a safe place for children, sexual predators often find a way to work around children.  If your child has been exposed to inappropriate sexual conduct at school you should contact a  compassionate and experienced school sexual abuse attorney for a free consultation.

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