Former Newark High School Faculty Member Returned To The Western District Of New York To Face Child Exploitation Charges

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Matthew Holland, 28, of Newark, NY, who was arrested in Leesburg, Virgina, on July 17, 2020, has been returned to the Western District of New York to face charges which have been filed against him here. Specifically, defendant, who has been charged in the Western District of New York in a criminal complaint with production, receipt, and possession of child pornography, and online enticement of a minor, made an initial appearance today in Rochester before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson, and is being held pending a detention hearing on August 11, 2020.

Anyone with information concerning Matthew Holland or the social media accounts listed below is asked to contact Homeland Security Investigations at (716) 464-6070 or via email at hsibuffalotips@ice.dhs.gov. 

Snapchat: sheltonmoore47; steph.johnson12; tjohnson755; tj6340; timjohnson755; shelly4794; and s123m321.
Skype: Tim Johnson tjohnson755.
Instagram: timj755; sheltonmoore8945; bkingsbury755; and stephj8882019.
Facebook: Josh Garmon

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint filed against Holland, on March 9, 2020, investigators with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Leesburg, Virginia, received a report that Snapchat user “Tjohnson755” had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a 14-year-old minor. The complaint states that “Tjohnson755,” who was later identified as Matthew Holland, coerced the minor into sending him nude photographs. When the minor indicated that she did not wish to continue communicating, the defendant threatened to disseminate the minor’s photographs over the internet. Using this and other threats, Holland coerced the minor to continue to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos.

Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office detectives executed a search warrant on Holland’s “Tjohnson755” Snapchat account, and using IP information, located the defendant’s residence in Newark, NY. While analyzing the Snapchat account, investigators identified dozens of similar conversations with other suspected minors.

On March 9, 2020, with assistance from the Newark Police Department, and the Wayne County, New York, Sheriff’s Office, Loudoun County investigators executed a search warrant at Holland’s residence. A preliminary forensic analysis of computers and other digital items seized revealed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, including child pornography depicting prepubescent minors, and child pornography that Holland produced, involving known and unknown minors, using his “Tjohnson755” Snapchat account. During the execution of the search warrant, Holland indicated to investigators that he operated Illumination Images on W. Union Street in Newark, New York. Within the dressing room at that business, Holland had installed hidden cameras in order to record customers, including minors, in various stages of undress. Following the execution of search warrant, Holland was arrested and extradited to Leesburg, Virginia, to face a state charges in that jurisdiction.

According to the complaint, Holland recently resigned as a faculty member at Newark High School. The defendant was also previously employed at the YMCA in Canandaigua, New York, and is believed to have surreptitiously recorded individuals at that location. 

If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life, and a $250,000 fine.

The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Michael L. Chapman; the Newark, New York Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Thoms; the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Berry Virts; the Canandaigua, New York Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stephen Hedworth; and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.   

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.  

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