Former BB&N Music Teacher Faces Federal Charges for Producing Child Pornography

A former music teacher at a prominent Cambridge private school is facing federal charges for allegedly paying to produce child pornography, according to Monday court filings.

Cambridge police first arrested Joshua P. DeWitte in January, charging him with distribution and possession of child pornography.

Though he pleaded not guilty and was later released, multiple devices, including his personal cell phone, were seized from his home during the January arrest. After obtaining a warrant last week, federal law enforcement searched the devices and filed the latest charges.

The search revealed DeWitte had allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars for the production of videos depicting the sexual exploitation of underage boys in the Philippines for more than a year, according to a Thursday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts.

David J. Grimaldi, DeWitte’s lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment on the latest federal charges levied against his client.

DeWitte allegedly paid Christopher A. Tisoy — a Filipino national, living in Maryland, who was also charged on Thursday — more than $23,000 to film the videos. DeWitte made 87 payments, ranging from $27 to $958, to Tisoy since July 2023.

DeWitte and Tisoy allegedly discussed multiple underage boys by name, according to text messages included in the court document, though the names of the children were redacted. DeWitte then allegedly negotiated the creation of videos involving at least two of the boys — including the videos’ content and payment.

“The negotiation allegedly incorporated the sexual preferences of both DeWitte and Tisoy, with both agreeing on what they would each find sexually gratifying,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in the press release. “Tisoy then allegedly relayed instructions to the minor victims to create a video.”

Tisoy allegedly gave the minors “bulleted instructions” based on DeWitte’s demands, according to one Snapchat conversation cited in court documents. A day later, DeWitte received the video, paying Tisoy shortly after.

DeWitte was arrested again on Thursday and will be detained until his May 12 hearing in federal court. Both DeWitte and Tisoy face a minimum of 15 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and fines up to $250,000.

Prior to his January arrest, DeWitte was a music teacher for grades 3-6 at Buckingham Browne & Nichols, a private school in Cambridge that teaches kindergarten through twelfth grade. He previously taught in the Cambridge Public Schools for 13 years.

DeWitte was placed on leave and issued a “no trespass” order immediately after his first arrest. He was later fired on January 14, a BB&N spokesperson confirmed.

BB&N Head of School Jennifer Price notified parents of the federal charges in a Thursday evening email, adding that students at the school were not involved.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office called me personally this afternoon to inform me about these charges and to communicate directly with me that at this time there is no evidence that any of these charges involve any BB&N or local students,” Price wrote.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.