Central Bucks Choir Director Filmed Former Student Undressing, Made Sexual Advances: DA

BUCKINGHAM, PA — Central Bucks West High School's choir director is facing multiple felony charges after investigators found he had footage of one of his former students undressing, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Joseph Ohrt, 56, was arrested Tuesday with bail set at 10 percent of $50,000. He was ordered to have no contact with the former student in question, no contact with anyone mentioned in his affidavit, and no contact with anyone under 18 years old.

The Central Bucks Regional Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office began investigating Ohrt on May 9 after a Childline referral intake report accused him of possible sexual assault of a former student.

The DA said that the student, a former choir member, graduated from Central Bucks West in 2016.

Ohrt began mentoring him in music composition during his junior year of high school, the student said. According to a criminal complaint, some of Ohrt's actions while they were alone made him feel uncomfortable and he described their relationship as "conflicted."

According to the DA, Ohrt would sometimes come up behind the student and hug him, tell him that he loved him, and "inappropriately touch" him.

The student said he maintained a close relationship with Ohrt after graduating high school and even moved into a bedroom at Ohrt’s house. He said when he was about 19, they went together to New York City to watch a Broadway show, sharing a bed in a hotel room. He said Ohrt bought a bottle of wine during that trip, which they both drank.

The two also attended a choir convention in Kansas City, he said, and smoked cannabis and drank alcohol together on that trip. Then, when he was asleep, he was awakened by Ohrt placing his hand down his pants. Ohrt made sexual advances toward him, but he declined, according to the DA.

The DA said that incident made the man believe Ohrt only befriended him in high school because he wanted a sexual relationship.

On Sep. 30, detectives went to Ohrt's house on the 3900 block of York Road in Buckingham, the DA said. When no one answered the door, Central Bucks Regional Police Detective Sergeant Paul Kreuter left his business card in the door.

A month later, on Oct. 29, a young man who was living at Ohrt’s house came to the Central Bucks Regional Police Department with property he said Ohrt gave to him to destroy.

That man said he moved into a bedroom in Ohrt’s house in the beginning of 2021. He said about a month ago, he came home and found a detective’s business card in the door. He asked Ohrt about the business card, and Ohrt said he did not know why it was left there.

Then, according to the DA, on the evening of Oct. 26, 2021, the man said Ohrt told him he needed to leave the house by the weekend, without any further explanation. The next day, the man began loading his van. As he packed, Ohrt gave him some bags and other items, including a silver Acer laptop computer, to take with him.

Ohrt told him that he watched porn on the Acer computer, but he ran the computer under water and asked him to dispose of everything in “a non-public manner.”

The man was unaware of any police investigation, but was suspicious of the question, so he took the items to the police station, the DA said.

In addition to the computer, the three bags contained a thong and boxer style underwear, a catholic schoolgirl uniform costume, an external hard drive, miscellaneous pieces of art, and four hidden camera devices, the DA said.

The laptop computer and the external hard drive were taken to the Federal Bureau of lnvestigation’s Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory for analysis. The lab confirmed the laptop had been placed in water, but they were able to retrieve information from the computer and the external hard drive, the DA said.

Detectives reviewed the recovered data and noted they contained numerous pornographic images and videos. That review is pending further analysis, according to the DA.

Detectives reviewed two memory cards found in the hidden cameras, and one of them contained audio and video of Ohrt’s former student, with one video showing him naked as he changed his clothing, the DA said.

Ohrt is facing one count of interception, disclosure, or use of wire, electronic or oral communications; and four counts of possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, or advertisement of electronic, mechanical, or other devices and telecommunication identification interception devises. All five counts are felonies of the third degree.

He also faces misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Central Bucks Regional police said a search warrant has been executed at Ohrt's home to search for additional evidence.

Ohrt had taught at the high school for a long time, and was even Pink's teacher when she attended Central Bucks West.

The district's board of school directors accepted Ohrt's retirement on Dec. 6, to go into effect June 10, according to Central Bucks spokesperson Angela Linch. She said he entered a leave of absence on Oct. 26.

"The district is cooperating fully with the office of the Bucks County District Attorney, to whom we would direct any requests for comment," she said.

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is asking any other victims to come forward by contacting the Central Bucks Regional Police Department at (215) 345-4143 or Bucks County Detectives at (215) 348-6354 or submitting a tip online.

This case was investigated by Detective Sergeant Paul Kreuter of the Central Bucks Regional Police Department and Detective Greg Beidler of the Bucks County Detectives, and is assigned for prosecution to Assistant District Attorney Brittney Kern.

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