72-Year-Old Former Private Teacher Sentenced For Child Abuse

TUCKAHOE, NY — A 72-year-old former private school teacher and tutor will be going to prison for enticing a 7-year-old to engage in sexual activity and for possessing child pornography.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Wednesday that John Mueser, 72, of Tuckahoe, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Mueser pleaded guilty Jan. 10.

Williams said Mueser presented himself to the world as a dedicated teacher.

“But in reality, Mueser exploited the trust placed in him as an educator in order to gain access to the victim’s home and to carry out his sickening abuse,” he said. “As today’s sentencing underscores, we will continue to use every tool available to law enforcement to prosecute and punish those who exploit children.”

Prosecutors said, on May 1, 2019, Mueser, who was a private school teacher and a private tutor at the time, induced a 7-year-old child, whom he was tutoring, to engage in sexually explicit conduct and used his iPhone to record the activity.

Mueser’s iPhone was found to contain hundreds of images of the child, many of which were sexually explicit.

In addition to the images of the child, Mueser’s phone was also found to contain numerous sexually explicit images and videos of other prepubescent children.

Years before his abuse of the 7-year-old, Mueser sexually abused two other children, according to prosecutors. The abuse continued for years.

In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti said that Mueser’s criminal conduct was “truly reprehensible.”

“Is there anything more evil than sexually abusing small children for your own sexual gratification?” Briccetti said.

The judge said the 25-year sentence might very well be a life sentence for the 72-year-old.

“That does not trouble me at all,” Briccetti said.

In addition to the prison sentence, Mueser was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.