The former “Jeopardy!” winner who taught at an elite Brooklyn school and allegedly catfished kids into sending him X-rated photos left court after posting bail Thursday and had nothing to say about the disturbing charges he’s facing. Winston Nguyen — an ex-con who has already spent time behind bars — kept his eyes lowered as he was escorted out of Brooklyn Criminal Court by his attorney Frank Rothman.Bonsai Casino The accused pervert, 37, remained silent when asked if it was true he posed as a teen on two different Snapchat accounts to connect with kids as young as 13, then tricking them into sending nudes and videos of sexual performances. “He has nothing to say. Not a word,” Rothman said. Nguyen kept tight-lipped even as he arrived home — alone — to his Harlem apartment when asked to comment on the sickening allegations. “Oh, lock his ass up and throw away the key,” said a 32-year-old Brooklyn man who was visiting a friend at Nguyen’s building. “It’s not right to do that to kids, you really mess up their minds for life. Those children will never be right after having experienced that.” Nguyen walked out of court after a judge set his bail at $30,000. He faces 30 charges of use of a child in a sexual performance and promoting a sexual performance, among other felonies. Nguyen surrendered to Brooklyn prosecutors Thursday morning after a month-long probe into accusations involving explicit photos and minors while teaching at Saint Ann’s, a pre-K-to-12 school that boasts famous alumni such as Lena Dunham. Some of his alleged victims — six kids between the ages of 13 and 15 — were even students at the posh institution. The rest attended other ritzy Brooklyn schools: Berkeley Carroll School, Packer Collegiate Institute, and Poly Prep Country Day School. The alleged catfishing spree spanned from October 2022 to May, during which time Nguyen allegedly used his teenager ruse at least 11 times, prosecutors said. Nguyen didn’t appear to meet any of the kids in person, but lured the teens into sending him nude or sexually graphic images, prosecutors allege. In at least one case, he allegedly paid a victim for the explicit content. He was dramatically arrested last month in front of a crowd of students at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights, where he taught math to students whose parents pay upward of $60,000 a year in tuition. The one-time 2014 “Jeopardy!” winner had been teaching at St. Ann’s School since 2020 — just one year after he was sprung from Rikers Island for using an elderly couple as his personal piggy bank. He pocketed more than $300,000 while working as the couple’s home health aide and used the cash to buy ballet tickets and a trip to Florida. During his time in jail, Nguyen publicly blasted the Department of Corrections conditions, twice calling into a radio show to speak with Mayor Bill de Blasio, and later filing an unsuccessful lawsuit against the city. Rothman said that he expects that Nguyen’s child porn arrest will be a violation of probation in his Manhattan case. The attorney will represent him in that case, set for August 5 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Advertisement
