Western Pennsylvania teacher charged after investigators find 1,500 child porn files

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A teacher who works with deaf children in Western Pennsylvania is facing charges after investigators said they found about 1,500 child pornography files on his devices. 

Michael William Boston, who police said is a teacher with the Riverview Intermediate Unit, is facing 50 counts of child pornography charges after an investigation that began with a tip in 2022. 

According to the criminal complaint, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children got a tip about child pornography uploaded to the cloud company Synchronoss. Pennsylvania State Police's Computer Crime Task Force was assigned the case after it was transferred out of Ohio. 

When investigators reviewed the case last month, they traced the files to Boston, who lives in Grove City. Police said the Riverview Intermediate Unit confirmed Boston was a teacher who traveled to different school districts and worked with children with hearing impairments.

Police said a search of Boston's phone and hard drive turned up about 1,500 images and videos of child pornography. There were also over 1,200 images and videos of child exploitative material.  

According to the criminal complaint, there were other items seized from Boston's residence that haven't been fully analyzed yet, but investigators found sufficient evidence to charge him. 

When police interviewed Boston, they said he refused to continue talking once they explained why they had a search warrant for his home. Police said he wouldn't confirm or deny having sexual contact with anyone under 18.

In addition to the child pornography charges, Boston is also facing counts of disseminating images of child sex acts and criminal use of a communication facility.