Former Philadelphia teacher and accomplice plead guilty to child sexual abuse offenses
PHILADELPHIA - A former Springside Chestnut Hill Academy teacher and an accomplice have pled guilty to multiple child sexual abuse offenses, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero announced.
Philadelphia resident Andrew Wolf, 42, and Carthage, New York resident Kray Strange, 20, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to manufacture child sexual abuse materials, along with other charges, in February.
Officials said the two carried out an elaborate online child exploitation catfishing scheme from May 202 to October 2021. It was said they pretended to be minor girls in order to engage child victims to self-produce and send them sexually explicit images.
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According to authorities, Wolf used his position as a teacher to give identifying information about his own middle school students to Strange, who would target them online.
"Both of these defendants violated the privacy and innocence of children, but Andrew Wolf also violated the trust of the community in which he taught by victimizing his own students," said U.S. Attorney Romero. "Our Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to doing the difficult work of investigating and prosecuting these crimes in order to hold child sexual predators accountable."
Wolf faces a maximum sentence of 240 years in prison, while Strange faces a maximum sentence of 210 years. Both have a mandatory minimum of 15 years.