Former Teacher, Trustee Sentenced In Teen Sex Case

COLD SPRING, NY — A former village trustee and substitute teacher was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for attempted receipt of child pornography from a former student.

Charles Hustis communicated with a 16-year-old over Facebook Messenger in December 2019. Hustis sent the teen sexual images, including photographs of himself, and solicited photos from the teen. According to the complaint, the teen reported the solicitation to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and an FBI agent took over the teen’s Facebook account to communicate with Hustis while posing as the minor. SEE: Former Teacher Accused Of Arranging Sex With Teen.

Hustis was arrested by law enforcement officers in a parking lot in Cold Spring, where they alleged he was waiting to escort the teen back to his apartment for sexual activity.

"This predatory behavior was a betrayal of the trust that the Cold Spring community placed in Charles Hustis, both as a former teacher and as a public official," U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in announcing the sentence.

Hustis, 37, was initially charged with attempted enticement of a minor for sex, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge — attempted receipt of child pornography in November before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, who imposed the sentence. In addition to the prison term, he was sentenced to seven years of supervised release.

Hustis, a graduate of Haldane High School, served on the village Board of Trustees from 2010-14, ran unsuccessfully for the Haldane Board of Education in 2015, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019. He had worked as a substitute teacher.

She praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the County Sheriff’s Department, and the Cold Spring Police Department.