Courtesy of the online vigilante organization Predator Poachers and the Suffolk County Police Department, Shoreham-Wading River music teacher Mark Verity, 37, was arrested for allegedly soliciting indecent photos from someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
The Islip resident was apprehended at a family member’s house in Mattituck on Friday, October 17th. He was officially charged with Attempted Dissemination of Indecent Material to a Minor in the First Degree, along with additional child exploitation offenses. He was held overnight and subsequently arraigned on Saturday, October 18th, in Central Islip.
When news first broke of his indefinite suspension and building ban by the school district that morning, statements from Shoreham-Wading River and the police had only indicated the teacher was being reprimanded for “disturbing remarks” he was caught making on a livestream.
This prompted local social media posters to suspect his removal was unduly politically motivated; however, it was shortly thereafter that the onslaught of upsetting details came forward.
Predator Poachers Long Island (PPLI) — run by married couple Mike Villiani and Emily Hoenscheid — has caught 47 alleged pedophiles across nine states, leading to arrests in four states and Canada. Twenty Long Island stings have resulted in several indictments and guilty pleas as well.
Their latest bust resulted from Verity’s chatroom conversations with Villiani, who was operating a decoy account posing as the 13-year-old girl. The discourse began on October 5th.
Verity allegedly sent a face photo, providing the facial recognition PPLI required to identify and confront him — a confrontation which they posted online. In it, Verity admits to receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material involving children as young as 8 years old. He also mentioned using a second, encrypted app to traffic such abominable content.
When the Riverhead Town Police were tipped off, they alerted Suffolk County’s Digital Forensic Unit about Verity’s online crimes.
The district confirms no students are believed to be victims at this time.
Detectives ask anyone who believes they may be a victim of Verity to contact the Digital Forensics Unit at 631-852-6279.