NYU professor Robert Ginsberg taught for years with kiddie porn conviction

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NYU professor Robert Ginsberg taught for years with kiddie porn conviction​



By
Melissa Klein


October 8, 2022 11:31am
Updated





Tour de Farce:New York- Signage at New York University in Greenwich Village.
Adjunct instructor Robert Ginsberg teaches at NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate despite being classified as a sex offender since 2015. Helayne Seidman




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New York University, which fired a professor who graded too harshly, has had a sex offender on its payroll for years.
Robert Ginsberg, an adjunct at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, was designated a Level 2 sex offender after he was busted in 2015 for kiddie porn, according to the state’s Sex Offender Registry.
Ginsberg, 59, who works in real estate financing, was arrested in Westchester County in 2015, accused of having computer files at his Chappaqua home that showed a sex tourist raping an 8-year-old Cambodian girl and another video with a girl of 6- to 8-year-old “engaging in sexual conduct with herself,” according to court documents.
He pleaded guilty to promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child and of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child, records show.
He was sentenced to 10 years probation in March 2016 and completed it in March 2022, according to his lawyer.
Ginsberg had an “extremely troubling and longstanding history of obsessive behavior regarding child pornography,” according to court records, which say he admitted to viewing kiddie porn four to five times a week for 10 to 12 years. He started therapy before his conviction.
Robert Ginsberg claimed he’s not obligated to admit his criminal history to New York University.Robert Ginsberg claimed he’s not obligated to admit his criminal history to New York University.
A judge rejected claims by Ginsberg’s lawyer that he should be labeled a less serious Level 1 sex offender and gave him Level 2 status instead, meaning he is a medium risk of committing another offense. Information on Level 1 offenders is only available by calling the state and is not placed online.







NYU spokesman John Beckman said Thursday that the university was unaware Ginsberg was a sex offender.
Beckman said Ginsberg’s hiring predated his being placed on the registry and that his current assignment involved teaching a graduate-level course in midtown and not at the main Washington Square campus.
“He has been suspended and will not be continuing his teaching duties while the matter is reviewed,” Beckman said.
Ginsberg, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, said he told the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, which maintains the sex offender registry, that he teaches at NYU, but was not obligated to tell the university, noting his students were in their 20s through 50s.
NYU’s satellite on West 42nd Street is listed as an employment address for Ginsberg on the state registry.
“I’ve been teaching there for 15 years and I’d like to be able to continue to teach there. I’ve done everything I can to try to make my amends,” he said. “It’s understandable why someone doesn’t want to bring up their past when it’s not relevant to the job they’re performing.”



The university drew heat this week after organic chemistry professor Maitland Jones Jr. contended that he was terminated after students at the $80,000-a-year school griped that his class was too hard.


The university said there were “multiple student complaints about his dismissiveness, unresponsiveness, condescension, and opacity about grading.”
 
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