The case against a former Newark School District assistant teacher and businessman, Matthew S. Holland, age 29, formerly of Washington Street in Newark is coming to a conclusion.

On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, the Village of Newark Police Department arrested Holland and turned him over to the Wayne County Office of Sheriff  Correctional Facility for arraignment as an out-of-state fugitive.

Mr. Holland was secured on the out-of-state warrants from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department in Leesburg, Virginia. Holland has arrested on warrants for: Felony Violation, Virginia code: Produce or Make Child Pornography and the Felony Violation, Virginia code: While Being a Person 18 years of age or older, Use a Communications System or Another Electronic Means, for the Purposes of Soliciting, with Lascivious Intent-Minor.

The Loudoun Sheriff’s Office became aware, in March of 2020, that Holland used the social media messaging app site Snapchat to contact a juvenile in Virginia. Holland used a fake profile pretending to be a teenager and coerced the juvenile female to send him explicit photos of herself.

Once he did this, he then allegedly  threatened the girl to send more photos, telling her if she refused he would  spread them on the internet

The girl told her family, who then contacted the Police Special Victim’s Unit.

Holland waived extradition and an investigation into more charges began in both Virginia and New York.

On Tuesday (3/16) Holland pled guilty in before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa in Rochester Federal Court to Production of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography Involving Prepubescent Minors.

Holland admitted that he received sexually explicit pictures from teenagers and recorded minors as they undressed at his Illumination Images photo studio in Newark.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi said in a news release that Holland’s crimes occurred between 2016 and 2020 and included coercing minors to engage in child pornography; surreptitiously recording minors as they undressed in homes, at the YMCA, and at  his photo studio “Illumination Images,”; and downloading and possessing hundreds of images of child pornography.

The defendant posed as a 14-16 year-old male and used the Snapchat account “Tjohnson755” and the Instagram account “TimJ755,” to engage minors in sexually explicit conversations. Holland would begin in neutral conversation, then would send pictures of an attractive teenaged boy, before transitioning the conversation to sexual topics and demanding that the minors produce and send to him nude or semi-nude photographs – to include the minors’ faces. The defendant often played upon his victims’ insecurities, paying them compliments and promising that he would delete their photos and would not share them. In some cases, once he obtained nude or semi-nude photographs, Holland would ask for more sexually explicit photographs involving sex acts. If a minor declined, the defendant threatened to share their previous images over the Internet. Since the defendant knew many of the minors through his employment with the Newark Central School District, he sometimes made specific threats involving the minors actual addresses, relatives, and schools, causing the minors, most of whom were 13 to 16 years old, to suffer extreme anxiety and fear.

In addition to coercing minors to produce child pornography via social media and the internet, Holland also engaged in the following conduct:

• Between October 2019, and February 14, 2020, while employed as a teacher/assistant at the before and after school childcare program at the Canandaigua YMCA, the defendant was responsible for supervising children 3 to 12 years old. On at least one occasion, Holland entered the family locker room and photographed approximately 5 female children in his care as they were changing out of their swimsuits after swimming in the YMCA pool.

• Between February 18, 2019, and February 20, 2020, Holland surreptitiously recorded a 10-11 year-old girl in various stages of undress in the bathroom of her home in Newark.

• On April 17, 2016, the defendant surreptitiously recorded a 10 year-old female in various stages of undress in the bathroom of her home in Marion, NY.

• Prior to his arrest in May 2020, Holland was also the owner and operator of Illumination Images located in Newark. Using this business, the defendant surreptitiously recorded minors in various states of undress by placing a hidden recording device inside of the studio changing room.

The defendant also possessed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography that he obtained via the Internet, including images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of prepubescent minors, to include toddlers, and children being subjected to violence.

The plea is the result of an investigation in  Newark and Canandaigua by the Newark Police under the direction of Chief Mark Thoms; the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Berry Virts; the Canandaigua, NY Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stephen Hedworth; and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum penalty of 50 years, lifetime supervised release, and a $500,000 fine.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2021, at 9:15 a.m., before Judge Siragusa.