A former Long Island teacher and soccer coach posed as a teenage boy on Snapchat to target underage girls, and he was just sentenced to 3 years

Ryan McCaffery was sentenced to three years in prison for using Snapchat to target underage girls while posing as a teenager. The 38-year-old worked as a social studies teacher and junior varsity soccer coach at Riverhead High School before his arrest. Prosecutors from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office noted that he used the platform to quickly add hundreds of random young girls to solicit nude photos.

As reported by the NY Post, between December 2024 and January 2025, McCaffery sent numerous minors images of his exposed p****. He also asked them for nude photos in return. Beyond his behavior on Snapchat, prosecutors said he shared and even purchased child porn on other sites. 

The investigation began in November 2024 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about McCaffery sharing child sexual abuse material on Kik. State Police raided his home in Ridge in January 2025 and seized several electronic devices. 

He also shared one of the videos with another user 

A forensic analysis of these devices reportedly revealed the messages he sent on Snapchat. It also showed that he tried to view and buy more abusive images and videos. The analysis confirmed he shared at least one of these videos with another Kik user.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney commented on the case after the sentencing. “[McCaffery’s] conduct was deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable,” said Tierney. He also noted, “Children should never have to navigate this kind of exploitation or have their innocence stolen by an adult’s actions — adults have a responsibility to protect children, not expose them to sexually explicit material.”

McCaffery faced multiple legal hurdles following the discovery of his actions. He was arrested in New Jersey less than a month after the raid on his home. He resigned from his position at Riverhead High School in February 2025. Only three months after the initial New Jersey arrest, he was arrested again by State Police on Long Island for the same behavior.

He pleaded guilty last month to two felony counts of disseminating indecent material to minors, first-degree as a sexually motivated felony. He also pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. Before this plea, he already admitted to similar crimes in New Jersey. He began serving a five-year sentence in that state in February.

The new three-year sentence in New York will run concurrently to his existing time. This means the new sentence likely will not add any years to his total time behind bars. In addition to his prison time, McCaffery will face five years of post-release supervision.