Ex-JCC Day Camp Counselor Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Porn
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A former counselor at a JCC day camp in suburban Detroit pleaded guilty to sharing pictures of nude boys online.
Matthew Kuppe, who was arrested last August after federal officials raided his home, pleaded guilty Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Kuppe, 21, is accused of posting photos of naked boys on a Russian website, including ones of three 5-year-old campers who were in his care. Kuppe used the handle “jcclockerroom” to post several photos of the naked boys on the Russian site.
At the plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, Kuppe admitted his guilt. His parents and two families of his victims were present. Kuppe faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, but could be sentenced to as many as 10 years, according to the Free Press. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
As part of Kuppe’s plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of producing child pornography.
Kuppe, who had worked at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit for two summers and at one point supervised its special-needs campers, was fired after JCC officials learned he was under investigation for suspected abuse. Three others were later fired for failing to alert senior management to concerns expressed about Kuppe in 2014.
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