Child Porn Scheme Lands Ex Chestnut Hill Teacher Hefty Prison Sentence

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA — A former Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Teacher was hit with a nearly 40 year prison sentence after being convicted on charges related to child pornography.

Federal authorities said Andrew Wolf, age 42, of Philadelphia, was to 38 years and 10 months in prison, 5 years supervised release.

Wolf in June 2022 pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to manufacture child pornography, along with several counts of manufacturing and attempted manufacturing of child pornography.

Authorities said he ran a scheme to manipulate and catfish children online, including his own middle school students.

Wolf and an accomplice — Kray Strange, 20, of Carthage, New York — were charged in February 2022.

Strange pleaded guilty to the same charges in June 2022, as well.

Between May 2020 and October 2021, Wolf and Strange ran an elaborate online child exploitation catfishing scheme.

This entailed them impersonating underage girls to entice their child victims to self-produce and send them sexually explicit images, federal authorities said.

As part of their scheme, Wolf provided identifying information for his own middle school students to his accomplice so that the accomplice could target them online, authorities said.

In addition to the prison time and supervised release, Wolf was ordered to pay a $800 special assessment, a $40,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, $150,000 in assessments under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act, and a $50,000 in fines.

"Our Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to holding child sexual predators accountable," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. "Today’s sentencing will never make the victims whole; however, it should serve as a reminder to all of us that an open line of communication and discussion with our youth about the ever-evolving dangers on the internet are another key component to keeping our youth safe."