ALBANY, N.Y. — The United States Department of Justice announced on Thursday that a former Upstate New York teacher has been sentenced for sex crimes against children.
The Department of Justice said Paul Geer, 57, of Hancock, Delaware County, NY, will serve 27 years and three months behind bars for his conviction two counts of coercing and enticing two separate children to travel across state lines to engage in unlawful sexual activity as well as two counts of transportating them across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Evidence presented in Geer’s trial showed that while he was a teacher at the Family Foundation School in Hancock from 1994 to 2001, he “imposed disciplinary sanctions on students that were tantamount to torture.”
Geer deprived children of food and forced them to eat vomit. He bound them in rugs and left them alone for hours. He also forced children to commit to physical labor.
The DOJ said Geer used his position of authority to coerce two students to travel wth him to Maine and Toronto to sexually abuse them, including rape. The trips occurred on two separate occasions.
Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III released the following statement regarding Geer’s sentencing:
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.
Geer was convicted of the crime on March 3. Following the completion of his sentencing, he will under three years of post-release supervision and will need to register as a sex offender.