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Shock waves were felt in the borough as well as in Rochelle Park, where Jeff Grossman, 65, is an elementary school teacher and his 24-year-old son a substitute teacher.
Both men “used the Internet to view, download and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Their Oct. 11 arrests stem from an investigation by members of Musella’s Cyber Crimes Unit that the prosecutor said included a raid of the Grossman home on Downey Drive.
Both remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
The elder Grossman taught college for several years before becoming a lawyer and working for the City of New York.
He returned to teaching at Northern Highlands Regional High School and the Norwood Public School before taking a job nearly a dozen years ago with the Rochelle Park School District, where he teaches 6th and 7th grade history at the Midland School.
Stephen Grossman, a social worker by trade, was substitute teaching in the district.
The Rochelle Park School Board "has immediately suspended both employees and directed them that they are prohibited from coming to the school for any reason," Schools Supt. Sue DeNobile wrote in a letter to the community.
Both also "are prohibited from contacting any student or staff," the schools chief added.
DeNobile said her administration and school counselors "are prepared to provide support to any student or family who may need assistance as a result of this information."
Jeff Grossman's current Borough Council term in Tenafly expires in December.
Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna, a fellow Democrat, issued a statement:
"I was shocked to learn of the arrest of our Borough Council President. I think it is in the best interest of the Borough that Mr. Grossman steps down in order that the people's business can continue uninterrupted and without distraction."
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