Ex-Long Island Teacher Sentenced to Three Years for Posing as Teen Online to Solicit Nudes

A former high school teacher and soccer coach from Long Island has been sentenced to three years in prison for posing as a teenager on Snapchat to solicit nude photos from underage girls.

Ryan McCaffery, 38, who previously taught social studies and coached junior varsity soccer at Riverhead High School, was sentenced Wednesday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. McCaffery used Snapchat to connect with hundreds of young girls by posing as a teenage boy, adding them randomly, and asking them to exchange explicit images.

Prosecutors stated that between December 2024 and January 2025, McCaffery sent nude images of himself to minors and requested nude photos in return. He was also found to be sharing and purchasing child pornography on other online platforms.

“McCaffery’s conduct was deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Children should never have to navigate this kind of exploitation or have their innocence stolen by an adult’s actions — adults have a responsibility to protect children, not expose them to sexually explicit material.”

Law enforcement was first alerted to McCaffery's activities in November 2024 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that he had shared child sexual abuse material on the messaging app Kik. Following this tip, State Police executed a search warrant at McCaffery’s home in Ridge in January 2025, seizing electronic devices.

Forensic analysis of the devices uncovered the Snapchat communications and revealed McCaffery’s attempts to view and acquire more child abuse material, as well as evidence of him sharing such content with another Kik user. McCaffery resigned from Riverhead High School in February 2025, less than a month after his arrest in New Jersey for similar offenses.

He had already begun serving a five-year sentence in New Jersey for his crimes. His recent New York sentence is set to run concurrently with his existing sentence. McCaffery pleaded guilty last month to two felony counts of disseminating indecent material to minors first-degree as a sexually motivated felony, and one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. He will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision.