Former Fort Worth High School Teacher Sentenced on Child Pornography Charge

FORT WORTH, Texas — Matthew Anthony Keller, 25, of Watauga, Texas, was sentenced this morning before Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 240 months in federal prison on a federal child pornography charge, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Keller, who, according to police reports, taught at Southwest High School in Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in October 2016. He has been in custody since the time of his arrest in July 2016.

“I’m always deeply disturbed by those who produce child pornography, said U.S. Attorney Parker, but it’s particularly appalling when the child is victimized by a teacher, someone in a trusted position.”

According to documents filed in the case, on August 6, 2014, Keller persuaded a minor victim to produce and send a nude, sexually explicit video to him. Keller met the minor victim, who first advised him he was 18-years-old and then later admitted he was 13-years-old, on a website. Two years later, the parents of the then 15-year-old male (MV1) notified a police department in Macomb County, Michigan, that they had discovered a relationship between their son and Keller. The parent advised that Keller was a 24-year-old high school teacher who exchanged nude photos and videos with MV1 for approximately 18 months.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, and the Eastpointe, Michigan Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted.

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