Chestnut Hill Private School Teacher Gets Nearly 40 Years in Child Porn Catfishing Scheme

A Philadelphia man was sentenced to nearly four decades in prison on Friday, for his role in -- what United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero -- called a scheme to "manipulate and catfish children" including students in his middle school.

Andrew Wolf, 42 -- who worked as a middle and high school teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy for 18 years -- was sentenced to 38 years and 10 months in prison, along with five years of parole, as well as fines and other penalties, after he pleaded guilty in a catfishing scheme that came to light last year.

“Our office and our law enforcement partners are committed to holding child sexual predators accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Romero, in a statement. “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."

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, last February, Wolf and an accomplice were indicted on charges of conspiracy to manufacture child pornography, along with several counts of manufacturing and attempted manufacturing of child pornography.

Wolf pleaded guilty to the charges in June of last year.

The investigation began on July 12, 2021 when the company, Dropbox, submitted a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children accusing Wolf of uploading a video depicting suspected child pornography.

At the time of his arrest, investigators said Wolf tried to buy sexually explicit videos of a 13-year-old boy for a PlayStation card worth $100. He communicated with the boy on Instagram, police said.

"Today’s sentencing is sobering for the SCH community. Throughout this process, we have been transparent with our community, updating them as we have learned more about the situation and providing avenues for two-way communications," said a statement from the school after the sentencing. "We have also offered support services for anyone who needs them through our division heads or division psychologists. We will continue to make these resources and services available to students and others. Additionally, we have worked with law enforcement to ensure those responsible were held accountable. We hope today’s sentencing can provide a measure of closure, and we will continue to do everything we can to keep our students safe and provide the resources the community needs to heal."

Wolf also appeared to have posed as a teenage girl on social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat while following young boys, according to court documents.

Law enforcement officials said that Wolf ran this catfishing scheme from May in 2020 through October of 2021.

Throughout this time, officials said, Wolf and his accomplice "developed and carried out an elaborate online child exploitation catfishing scheme, in which they impersonated minor girls to entice their child victims to self-produce and send them sexually explicit images."

Wolf, officials said, provided information from his own middle school students so that his accomplice could find and target the students online.