Ex-Riverhead teacher indicted in Suffolk on child sexual performance and related charges: D.A.

Former Riverhead High School teacher and soccer coach Ryan McCaffery, 37, of Ridge, has been indicted in Suffolk County for Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child and several related charges, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Wednesday evening.

McCaffrey was arraigned on the indictment Wednesday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis and held on $100,000 cash bail or $400,000 bond, Tierney said.

McCaffery allegedly requested nude images from underage girls and sent explicit images of himself to them, Tierney said. 

McCaffery, who was hired as a high school social studies teacher in Riverhead in May 2021 and appointed head coach for the junior varsity boy’s soccer team in July 2022, resigned from the Riverhead Central School District on Feb. 5. He cited personal reasons for his resignation, according to the school district. 

Ten days after his resignation, he was arrested in Bergen County, New Jersey, and charged with sexual assault, child endangerment, and lewdness. That case remains pending, Tierney said.

Prosecutors there said McCaffery posed as a minor and requested nude photos and engaged in sexual acts while video chatting separately with two victims, both under 13 years old.

McCaffery had been investigated by the New York Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to the Suffolk DA. That investigation commenced in January 2023 after the task force was contacted by New Jersey detectives investigating an October 2022 complaint by parents that their daughter had been solicited for nude images and photos by a Snapchat user who also sent the child nude photos and videos of himself. 

Through the investigation, New York State Police and New Jersey detectives determined that the unknown Snapchat user who had been communicating with the minors was allegedly McCaffery, and that he was employed as a Riverhead High School teacher, Tierney said. The DA did not disclose when the Snapchat user’s identity was determined.

On Nov. 4, 2024, the New York Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual had allegedly shared child sexual abuse material on Kik, a messaging application. 

N.Y. State Police executed a search warrant at McCaffery’s home in Ridge on Jan. 17 as a part of an investigation into the two incidents in New Jersey and seized several electronic devices, Tierney said. An analysis of the devices revealed that McCaffery had been posing as a teenaged boy and engaging in chats with multiple underage girls on Snapchat, sending images of his exposed genitals and requesting nude images from the minors, the prosecutor said. 

Further investigation and additional search warrants yielded evidence that McCaffery had allegedly attempted to view and purchase additional abusive images and had shared at least one such video with another user on Kik,” a messaging app,  according to a press release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office issued last night.

McCaffery surrendered May 12 to N.Y. State Police in Riverside and was arrested on multiple child pornography and child endangerment-related charges, according to a state police press release.

The charges are unrelated to any of McCaffery’s prior work as a teacher at Riverhead High School or any interactions he may have had with students enrolled in the school, Interim Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said in a statement last month after his arrest by N.Y. State Police. She made a similar statement in February after his arrest in New Jersey.

The Suffolk DA said McCaffery was arraigned on the following charges in Suffolk County yesterday:

• One count of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child as a Sexually Motivated Felony, a Class D felony; 

• One count of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class D felony;  Three counts of Attempted Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance as a Sexually Motivated Felony, a Class D felony;

• Three counts of Attempted Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance, a Class D felony; 

• Three counts of Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, a Class D felony; 

• Three counts of Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree, a Class D felony; 

• One count of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class E felony; and Three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor. 

McCaffery is due back in court on July 17, 2025, and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted on the top count, Tierney said.

“We aggressively prosecute those who would exploit their positions of trust to harm children,” Tierney said. “The allegations in this indictment are truly disturbing. Our office remains committed to protecting our children and holding alleged predators accountable for their actions.”

He urged anyone who believes their child messaged or communicated with McCaffery via his Snapchat account “c_chambers77” or otherwise, to contact the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at 631- 852-2555. 

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.