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Former teacher sentenced to 30 years for child porn

A convicted purveyor of child pornography has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.  

Twenty-five-year-old Timothy Michael Bek, formerly a teacher at West Seneca West High School, learned his fate today from U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara.  

Prosecutors say more than 13, 500 pictures of child pornography were found stored on Timothy Bek's personal computer.  U.S. Attorney William Hochul says many of the pornographic pictures captured on Bek's personal computer were of a very disturbing nature.

Bek pleaded guilty to six criminal counts -- five counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing of child pornography.

Hochul says Bek preyed on the vulnerable and unsuspecting in his charge. He says Bek posed as a female teenager on Facebook and used the fictitious identity to make contact with underage victims, some of whom were students in the schools where Bek taught.

He then persuaded the victims to take explicit photos and videos of themselves and send these images over the internet and via text messaging.

"For a substantial period of time, Mr. Timothy Bek used his position as a teacher at the West Seneca West High School to target the most vulnerable children that he actually taught," Hochul said.

Bek's older brother, Jason, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on similar charges last December.

 

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