A former “Jeopardy!” champion admitted in a Brooklyn, New York, court Monday to posing as a child online to lure students ― including from the private school where he taught ― into sending sexually explicit images of themselves, amNY reported.
Winston Nguyen, 38, pleaded guilty to use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Brooklyn district attorney. He will likely receive a seven-year prison sentence.
He will be temporarily kept at Rikers Island before his sentencing next month, according to The New York Times.
Last July, prosecutors outlined charges that Nguyen catfished underage participants on Snapchat ― some as young as 13 ― into transmitting nude photos and videos of sexual acts between 2022 and 2024.
He targeted potential victims from Saint Ann’s School, where he taught math, and students from other schools in the area, the DA’s office noted.
“Today’s plea holds this defendant responsible for his disturbing and predatory conduct while sparing young and vulnerable victims from ever having to testify about their traumatic experiences,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
“This kind of exploitation of children, made even more distressing by the fact that the defendant was a trusted school figure, will never be tolerated in Brooklyn, and we will continue to expose and root it out.”
Nguyen, who previously served time for stealing $300,000 from an elderly couple he cared for, told the Times before his guilty plea, “I very much take responsibility for my actions. I made bad decisions.”
Nguyen won $10,067 on a 2014 episode of “Jeopardy” and lost his next game.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.