‘You Know You’re a Big Deal, Right?’

Posted on | March 27, 2015 | 20 Comments

A trophy case framed in brass, set inside a wall near the entrance to the Bronx High School of Science, testified to the triumph of the school’s debate team. So did classroom 203, the de facto debate headquarters, where the sunlight danced off a collection of plaques and trophies.
The dynamic force behind that success was a teacher and coach named Jon Cruz, who transformed the debate team from a relatively modest club to a juggernaut that had nearly 300 members. . . .
One of his signature sayings, which he used to pump up students before an important round of debate, a recent graduate recounted, was to take them aside and say, “You know you’re a big deal, right?”
At the same time, the popular teacher and respected coach was regularly communicating with teenagers from outside Bronx Science. According to investigators, he was using a messaging app to flirt, cajole and coerce, to extract suggestive photographs of the boys, sometimes in the nude.
“Pictures just have a huge impact on me,” Mr. Cruz wrote in a conversation with a teenager from upstate New York, according to a criminal complaint. “Seeing your feet and face and muscles and room and awards and stuff reinforce what a big deal you are.”
Mr. Cruz, 31, was arrested on March 6 on charges that he persuaded three teenage boys to send him nude or suggestive photographs in exchange for gift cards. He was charged with possessing, receiving and producing child pornography. . . .

You’ll want to read the whole thing, including the part about the teenage boy in California whom Cruz sent “$10,000 over several years,” but then “became less complimentary and more abusive” when the boy didn’t meet Cruz’s expectations for more “hot” photos.

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Category: Crime, Education, Gays, Sex

Comments

20 Responses to “‘You Know You’re a Big Deal, Right?’”

RS
March 27th, 2015 @ 10:40 am

And yet, our public schools continue to engage in all manner of “self-esteem” programs designed to help “gay” kids come out of the closet. It’s worth noting that had the sorts of conversations Jon Cruz engaged in with young boys been done in the context of one of those programs, he would be a LGBT-WTF hero right now.
texlovera
March 27th, 2015 @ 10:53 am

An interesting contrast to the previous post, no?

When you tolerate immoral behavior, you get more of it.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 27th, 2015 @ 10:58 am

So the teacher just wanted to show the boys some affection. He was like Alec Baldwin on SNL
http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.snl.com/SNL_0827_04_Canteen_Boy_Goes_Camping_EST.png
Fail Burton
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:00 am

Not all marginalized voices.
Dana
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:06 am

Would it be wrong of me to suggest that Mr Cruz will become a big deal himself when he moves into government housing?
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:15 am

Maybe Jon Cruz can work with Harry Reid on some new program for young boys visiting members of Congress…?
DeadMessenger
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:16 am

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Seems like we’re right back where we started. But Jesus said something about “the days of Noah” in Luke 17:26 that bears watching at this point.
Dana
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:16 am

Thing is, this was illegal behavior, and Mr Cruz was not a stupid man; he knew that what he was dong was against the law, and that if he ever got caught, he’d be in a heap of trouble.

If I am reading the story correctly, he was at least smart enough to “communicate” only with boys who were not students at the school where he taught. That indicates rational planning, and an attempt to “manage” his fetish in such a way as to minimize the chances he would be exposed. It also means that he knew and understood that we do not tolerate the type of behavior in which he was (allegedly) engaged. It also indicates the problem for his attorney, that he understood the difference between right and wrong.

There was a line on NCIS in which Special Agent Gibbs intimidates this college freshman by saying, “Believe me, son, you will not do well in prison.” I’m guessing that that line would apply in this case.
RS
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:22 am

Yep.
DeadMessenger
March 27th, 2015 @ 11:47 am

And if the 9th of Elul Shmita trends of Sept 17, 2001 (Dow Jones 684 point loss) and Sept 29, 2008 (Dow Jones 777 point loss) hold, then we’re scheduled for the next financial meltdown on Sept 13th. A worse one than 2008.

God is issuing warnings before judgment comes?
Eleanor Holmes Norton Violates Parking… Um, Etiquette | Regular Right Guy
March 27th, 2015 @ 2:20 pm

[…] ‘You Know You’re a Big Deal, Right?’ […]
RS
March 27th, 2015 @ 2:38 pm

Our current administration’s betrayal of Israel–something I never thought I’d see the U.S. do in my lifetime–is worthy of note, as well.
DeadMessenger
March 27th, 2015 @ 4:30 pm

With you there. We’re really just asking for it at this point.

In my understanding of prophecy,it seems to me that the Day of the Lord is nearly upon us, RS. I’m thinking that we may well see the Isaiah 17/Psalm 83 fulfillment within the coming year.
RS
March 27th, 2015 @ 6:51 pm

I don’t believe in coincidences.
DeadMessenger
March 27th, 2015 @ 7:30 pm

Proverbs 16:33
K-Bob
March 27th, 2015 @ 7:55 pm

Great. So now when you google [ cruz debate ] we’ll have this to look forward to.

Better than looking up [ money for bush ] I guess.
K-Bob
March 27th, 2015 @ 8:31 pm

Also, I noted an uncanny resemblance…

http://www.untoldentertainment.com/blog/img/2011_10_25/nerds.jpg
Zohydro
March 27th, 2015 @ 9:28 pm

In Protective Housing, he’ll have it easy!
theoldsargesays
March 28th, 2015 @ 3:52 pm

He hope’s it goes easy…. At first anyways.
theoldsargesays
March 28th, 2015 @ 3:53 pm

I don’t think there’s enough time left for Dingy Harry….a Federal Grand Jury may soon be consuming much of his time.