HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Senior United States District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo sentenced Matthew B. Puterbaugh, age 47, of Dover, Pennsylvania today to 180 months imprisonment for production of child pornography.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Puterbaugh was a music teacher and band director at Dover Intermediate School in York County. Between 2010 and 2014, he secretly recorded images of female students at the school that constitute child pornography. In February 2014, school officials reported a complaint to the Northern York County Regional Police Department. Police conducted searches and allegedly found thousands of images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on computers in Puterbaugh's home.
Puterbaugh was initially charged in August 2013. He pled guilty on January 21, 2015 pursuant to a plea agreement filed December 11, 2014.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Northern York County Regional Police Department in cooperation with the York County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meredith A. Taylor.
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