Retired elementary teacher who worked as Santa arrested on child abuse material charges

A retired New Jersey elementary schoolteacher who was portraying Santa at public and private events has been arrested on multiple child sexual abuse material charges after investigators traced illicit uploads back to him, prosecutors said.

Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey’s office announced Monday that 64-year-old Mark Paulino was charged with second-degree distribution of child sexual abuse material, second-degree possession of child sexual abuse material with the intent to distribute, third-degree possession of child sexual abuse material and endangering the welfare of a child.

Marbrey said the charges against the retired Hamilton Township, New Jersey, elementary schoolteacher stem from an investigation into online child exploitation by her office’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit.

Detectives received information from the New Jersey State Police ICAC Unit on Dec. 4 that an individual living in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, had uploaded multiple files of suspected child sexual abuse material to the internet.

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An investigation followed, and investigators identified Paulino as a person of interest.

According to the prosecutor, Paulino said on his website that he recently retired from the Hamilton Township School District as an elementary schoolteacher and now works as a Santa character available for photographs and private, organizational and corporate events.

Because of his engagement with young children in that role, detectives “worked around the clock” to obtain a warrant to search Paulino’s residence.

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Investigators executed the warrant at his Hamilton Township home on Friday with assistance from the prosecutor’s Economic Crime, Cyber Crimes and Domestic Violence units, as well as the Hamilton Police SWAT team.

Detectives seized multiple pieces of evidence during the search, but details were not released because the investigation is open and ongoing.

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Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain Paulino pending trial.

Paulino has since been taken into custody without incident, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors encourage anyone with information about the investigation to contact the ICAC Unit at (609) 989-6568 or submit an anonymous tip at mercercountyprosecutor.com.

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Marbrey also encouraged anyone with information about “information about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the internet or possible exploitation and sexual abuse of children” to report it to the ICAC Unit or the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tip line at (888) 648-6007.