Patrick Russell

Introduction

Patrick Russell is a former Upper School teacher and football coach at Saint Andrew’s School, a private school in Boca Raton, Florida, who was arrested at his home on federal child pornography charges in June 2026 following an FBI investigation that began in Ohio. Federal investigators allege Russell used an encrypted messaging app under an alias to receive child sexual abuse material, that a user tied to him made sexual comments about students at his own school, and that more than 3,000 files were linked to the case. The school terminated him immediately upon his arrest and banned him from campus and all school contact.

Background Information

Russell worked at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton as an Upper School teacher and a football coach. The case against him originated, according to federal investigators, in Ohio during an unrelated FBI investigation — a routine byproduct of CSAM investigations, in which targeting one account surfaces the contacts on the other end. Authorities allege the user at the center of the case operated on an encrypted messaging app called Zangi under the username “Jack C.”

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Federal charges, presumption of innocence. Russell faces federal child-pornography charges; the allegations come from a criminal complaint, no conviction has been entered, and prosecutors had not yet presented the case to a grand jury in the available record.

According to the federal criminal complaint, investigators said the Zangi user identifying himself as a teacher and coach made sexual comments about students at his school. Authorities also allege Russell discussed finding someone who could “bait” students to send nude photographs. Investigators said they linked more than 3,000 files to the case.

Saint Andrew’s notified families on the Thursday before the charges became public that Russell had been arrested at his home following the FBI investigation and was immediately terminated. “We have terminated Mr. Russell’s employment, and he is not permitted to return to campus, access any school equipment or property, attend any school events, or interact with any students or employees,” the school said in a statement. The school said it was cooperating with law enforcement as the investigation continued.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The school’s response was total and immediate: termination, a campus ban, removal from the school’s website, and a direct notification to families — before any grand jury had weighed the evidence. For a private school community, the disclosure that a teacher-coach was accused in a federal complaint of making sexual comments about the school’s own students converted a criminal-justice filing into a parental notification letter. The combination of charges — receipt of child sexual abuse material and alleged statements about baiting students — placed the allegations at the intersection of a passive collection case and a potential threat to the school’s own children, which is the framing in which the school’s all-of-the-above exclusion of Russell should be read.

Current Status

Russell has been terminated from Saint Andrew’s School, removed from its website, and barred from campus, school property, school events, and any interaction with students or employees. Federal prosecutors were expected to present the case to a grand jury, which could occur as soon as the week after the arrest. No indictment, plea, or trial date appears in the available record, and the investigation remained active with the school cooperating with law enforcement.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Russell’s teaching and coaching career ended the day FBI agents came to his house: immediate termination, a permanent bar from the campus where he worked, and his name stripped from the school’s website. The federal case — built on an encrypted-app alias, a 3,000-file linkage, and allegations that he spoke sexually about his own students — now stands between him and any future work in education, with a grand jury presentation pending and the school’s community already fully informed of why he disappeared from it.

Sources

• WCIV ABC News 4 / WPEC, “Teacher, football coach arrested on child pornography charges” (Gershon Harrell & Victoria De Cardenas) — source