A teacher at the Buckingham Browne & Nichols private school in Cambridge was arraigned Thursday in Cambridge District Court after an investigation found he’d been exchanging sexual videos and photos with minors online, officials said Friday.
Joshua DeWitte was arrested at 7:45 a.m. Thursday on six counts of distributing obscene matter to a minor, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distributing material of a child in a sex act, officials said.
He is a music teacher at the BB&N lower school and former teacher in Cambridge Public Schools, where he worked on the campus of the Rindge Avenue Upper School and Peabody elementary from 2008 to 2022, district spokesperson Jackie Piques said Friday.
Investigators are working to identify potential victims. “There is no indication any of the victims are Buckingham Brown & Nichols Lower School or Cambridge Public School students,” police spokesperson Robert Goulston said.
BB&N has announced a schoolwide forum about the situation and said a thorough reference check before hiring DeWitte didn’t turn up red flags. Piques said the public school district had “communicated with families at schools where Mr. DeWitte worked” and was offering services to those who felt they needed it. “Our councilors are here,” Piques said.
DeWitte was arrested at his home on the 200 block of Mount Auburn Street, West Cambridge, Goulston said. Police gave DeWitte’s age as 49, and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said he was 50.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program told investigators in December of suspected activity on DeWitte’s Snapchat account, said Meghan Kelly, a spokesperson for the DA’s office. “The subsequent investigation into this matter revealed that the defendant was allegedly using Snapchat to speak with multiple male children under the age of 18. The chats allegedly included conversations that were sexual in nature,” Kelly said.
Bail on Thursday was set at $8,000, and DeWitte was ordered to surrender his passport, stay away from victims and witnesses and from Buckingham Browne & Nichols, and not to work with children under 18. The next date in this case is Jan. 31.
There were similar cases in Cambridge in 2014 and 2021.
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This is so very distressing. We knew Mr. DeWitte while he was at Peabody and RAUC and liked him very much–in fact, trusted him with our kids! I hope that no children were physically or mentally harmed by his alleged actions, and that he gets the help and support he needs.