Paul Geer, a former teacher at the Family Foundation School in Hancock, New York, was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison after being found guilty of coercing and transporting two students across state lines for unlawful sexual activity. The sentencing took place in Albany, New York.
Geer, age 58, was convicted on March 3, 2025, following a two-week trial. Evidence presented showed that between 1994 and 2001, while working as a teacher, Geer imposed severe disciplinary measures on students. These included depriving children of food or forcing them to eat regurgitated food, binding them in rugs and isolating them for long periods, and making them perform physical labor. The court found that Geer used this authority to coerce two students into traveling with him to Maine and Toronto, Canada. During these trips, he engaged in unlawful sexual acts with the minors.
In addition to his prison sentence, United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino ordered Geer to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his term and mandated that he register as a sex offender.
Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated: “Paul Geer was a monster. As a teacher, Geer was supposed to help his students become better versions of themselves. Instead, Geer used his position of power to torture these children physically, emotionally, and psychologically. When Geer believed his tactics had been sufficiently effective in breaking these children and scaring them into silence, he proceeded to sexually abuse them. These children deserved to be protected, to be cared for, and to be helped, but Geer viewed these children only as a means to his sadistic and predatory end. Geer is now paying the price for his heinous conduct and will spend the next 27 years where he deserves to be, in a cage.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli said: “The depth of Mr. Geer’s sexual, physical, and psychological abuse is so depraved it’s truly hard to comprehend. He was entrusted to care for the students at the Family Foundation school but instead tortured them for years. Now he’s being held accountable for those actions and heading to federal prison. Nothing was more important than delivering justice to those students. Today, our thoughts are with them – and their peers who never got to tell their stories – as they continue to process the unimaginable impact his abhorrent behavior had on their young lives.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with support from the Colonie Police Department and New York State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica N. Carbone, Adrian S. LaRochelle, and Michael D. Gadarian prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is an initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation by coordinating resources among federal agencies such as U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along with state and local partners nationwide (https://www.justice.gov/psc).
