MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — An automotive maintenance teacher at Martin County High School was arrested Thursday on multiple charges including child pornography.
Antonio Capilupi, 34, was taken into custody and held at the county jail, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
Capilupi faces five felony counts — three counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of solicitation of a minor.
The teacher coerced a 14-year-old student to send him inappropriate videos and pictures through Snapchat, according to investigators.
Authorities said they were alerted about the allegations Sunday. Capilupi was reassigned out of the school Monday morning before he was arrested at his home Thursday.
Detectives said they have been working closely with the Martin County School District on this case.
The sheriff's office said they are asking parents to speak to their children and ask if they have had any inappropriate contact with Capilupi or if the teacher has asked them to forward photos or take any inappropriate photos at his request.
If so, they are urging parents to contact the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
"We have to be careful with our children. We have to take a look at their phones, have their passwords," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said. "No 14-year-old should have a place on their phone where mom or dad or either one can't take a look."
Snyder called the charges "very serious."
"He could face a couple of decades or more in a state prison for this," Snyder said.
Counselors and social workers will be available to the affected students.
"You've got these teachers, and then you think that they're good people, and you find out things like this, disgusting is all I can say about it," Paula Krohmer, the aunt of a first-grade student, said. "I'm very happy that they arrested the person but these people are behind closed doors, doing this at home so you know, I don't know what else the schools could do."
In a separate case less than nine months ago, the sheriff's office said Alton Edwards, a Martin County High School coach, was arrested, accused of paying female students to send him nude pictures also through Snapchat.
"Considering the fact that these incidents were so close together, are you guys assessing what more you could be doing?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Martin County School District Chief of Safety and Security Frank Frangella.
"There's nothing more that we could do other than following our procedure," Frangella said. "Everyone is fingerprinted, everyone has a background screening, and we follow the law."
Frangella said they take incidents like this "very seriously."
"We're very thankful for the relationship that we have with the sheriff's office," Frangella said. "This was done pretty swiftly."
Capilupi appeared in court Friday where his bond was set at $1 million. Online court records show that he refused a public defender and is representing himself.
