Baldwin-Whitehall Sub Arrested For Child Pornography

A substitute teacher for the Baldwin-Whitehall School District was arrested on child pornography charges on Tuesday, after a search warrant was executed at his home.

Matthew Sokol, 25, was arraigned in municipal court.

Sokol was reportedly tracked by investigators, who followed his twitter handle “playfulteacher.” His account has since been suspended, allegedly because of the pictures he uploaded.

“Sokol stated that he has images of children that are in middle school age range involved in sexual acts with adults,” according to the complaint. “Sokol stated that he never took any pictures of children and has not had sex with any children. Sokol stated that he does not have any pictures of his students.”

According to the DA’s office, Sokol had more than 50 images of children under the age of 18 exposing their genitals.

“He stated that he teaches 7th and 8th grade students at the Baldwin-Whitehall School District and he can keep his work and personal interests separate,” the complaint said. “He didn’t think that it was an issue that he is interested in the same age range of children that he teaches.”

Investigators quote Sokol saying “It’s my home and my personal life, that’s how I justify it. As long as I’m not having sex with children and not taking pictures, it’s not illegal what I am doing.”

Baldwin-Whitehall superintendent Dr. Randy Lutz said that the early part of the investigation indicates that no children from the school district are in the images. Sokol has been fired from the district.