Former Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Artistic Advisor Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offense

BOSTON – A former employee of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for possession of child pornography.

David St. George, 75, of Arlington, was sentenced on Sept. 14, 2022 by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to five years in prison and five years of supervised release. St. George was also ordered to pay a $5,100 special assessment and restitution of $3,000 to each of the victims in this case. On March 30, 2022, St. George pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime. It depicts child abuse. Plain and simple. Every single image or video of the material entails unspeakable harm and trauma inflicted upon an innocent child, and those who possess, distribute or view it not only break the law but more importantly revictimize these children with each act that sexualizes them,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “As the chief federal law enforcement officer of our Commonwealth and a mother, I see it as my duty in this role to protect our children. And my office will dedicate every resource necessary to do so.”

“The child sexual abuse materials that St. George possessed captured the horrific abuse of children. Searches of his home and electronics revealed he possessed thousands of these images while he was employed by the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra,” said Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England. “HSI is committed to pursuing those who possess and trade child sexual abuse material wherever they hide, even when they go to great lengths to anonymize their activity and conceal their identities.”

In May 2018, investigators received information regarding a shared secure online storage account containing child pornography. The IP address for this account ultimately was linked to St. George’s internet. The storage account contained over 5,000 files, including sexually explicit images and videos of children, many of which depicted child sexual abuse – including the depiction of an adult raping an infant of approximately one year of age.

In September 2018, a search of St. George’s residence revealed thousands of files of child pornography, including the depiction of sexual assaults of children between six-and-eight years old. Emails revealed that St. George continued to re-post child sexual abuse materials despite being repeatedly banned by an online service provider. During the search, St. George admitted that he had been receiving and downloading child pornography from the Dark Web while taking steps to conceal his identity, as well as receiving and downloading child pornography via email for upload to his shared secure storage account.

U.S. Attorney Rollins and HSI SAC Millhollin made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Arlington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney James D. Herbert of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.