HomeMy WebLinkAboutMath teacher charged in bomb case accused of raping student - Metro - 02/16/2018 - Metro - 02/16/20182/20/2018 Math teacher charged in bomb case accused of raping student
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IMa-th teacheir chairged In Ibomb case accused of iraipiiing student
By: Colleen Long And Jennifer Peltz The Associated Press, Published on IFri IFeb 16 2016
NEW YORK — A math teacher now charged with building a bomb suddenly stopped showing up
for classes after his school received a December bomb threat called in by an underage student
he later was charged with raping, law enforcement officials said Friday.
When the teacher, Christian Toro, formally quit a few weeks later, school officials and law
enforcement said they found something scary on his school laptop: a how-to guide on bomb
making.
"After he resigned, (charter school company) Democracy Prep did a routine review of his laptop
and was deeply disturbed by suspicious content," company spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie said.
"We immediately notified law enforcement."
Toro and his twin brother, Tyler Toro, were arrested Thursday and were charged with unlawfully
manufacturing a destructive device. Christian Toro also was charged with distribution of explosive
materials to a minor. The brothers have pleaded not guilty.
Law enforcement officials said they're still piecing together the case and the brothers' motivation
was unclear but the brothers didn't appear to be inspired by terror groups.
The investigation into the 27 -year-old brothers started on Dec. 4, when the bomb threat was
called in to the teacher's school, Harlem Prep, officials said. A 15 -year-old student was arrested
and was charged with making the threatening call.
Christian Toro stopped showing up, and he formally quit on Jan. 10, but no one knew at the time
he'd sexually assaulted the student, two law enforcement officials said.
The teacher's brother turned in his school laptop, and the probe launched. The teacher later told
agents that he'd come across the bomb making guide, "Explosives Book," while researching the
deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, looked only at its contents and never meant to download
it, a federal complaint said. He said he'd never built a bomb.
But students at his former school told agents that he paid at least two students about $50 an
hour between October and January to break up fireworks and store the powder from them, said
the complaint. One of the two teenage students who were paid was the girl he was accused of
raping who called in the threat, the officials said.
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2/20/2018
Math teacher charged in bomb case accused of raping student
Christian Toro apparently had taken the girl to his home on several occasions for sex, they said,
and he was arrested on rape charges on Jan. 31.
The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and spoke to
The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Agents got a warrant and searched the Toros' apartment on Thursday, finding more than 30
pounds (14 kilograms) of various chemicals used in explosives, a box of firecrackers, a bag of
metal spheres that could be used to pack a bomb with damaging projectiles and a diary, the
complaint said. The law enforcement officials said the materials were capable of doing serious
damage but not blowing up a building.
Agents searching the apartment also found a yellow backpack, which contained a purple index
card with handwriting that said "under the full moon the small ones will know terror," the
complaint said.
School officials said Toro had worked for the charter since 2016.
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