Berkeley Prep assistant coach charged with child porn possession

TAMPA — A part-time assistant swimming coach at Berkeley Preparatory School was arrested early Thursday and faces 100 counts of child pornography possession.

Jay Elliott Goldstein, 52, of Lutz had on his home computer "numerous images and video files depicting children from approximately 12 years old and younger engaged in sexual activities such as oral sex and sexual intercourse," according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office.

School officials on Thursday fired Goldstein, who worked seasonally at the school since 1999, and pledged to cooperate with investigators, according to a statement released Thursday. They said they are still looking into the matter but do not believe any of the children in the images are Berkeley students.

Goldstein does not teach classes at Berkeley, a well-regarded private school in Town 'N Country.

"We want parents to know that to our knowledge the arrest is in no way connected to Mr. Goldstein's work at Berkeley," said Jeremy Canody, the school's director of communications. "Berkeley places first and foremost the safety of our students."

The school sent emails to all parents, faculty and coaches after learning of the arrest. Berkeley officials plan to reach all swim athletes to follow up and make sure they answer any questions and concerns, Canody said.

"We're going to stay vigilant in addressing the situation in the best interest of our school and our students," he said.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said the images discovered by detectives appear to be existing child porn that others had also downloaded from the Internet.

Detectives say they obtained a warrant and searched Goldstein's home Thursday morning after discovering he had been trying to obtain child pornography over the Internet. They say he "admitted to detectives that there would be child pornography on his computer equipment," authorities said.

Goldstein was being held on $750,000 bail. He does not have any previous arrests in Florida, according to state records.

Times staff writer Justin George and researcher John Martin contributed to this report.