Pittsburgh-area music teacher facing felony child porn charges appears in court

PITTSBURGH — For the first time, Keystone Oaks music teacher Thomas Duxbury appeared in court on five felony child porn charges.

Wearing a mask and sunglasses, he rushed into the magistrate’s office for his preliminary hearing.

He avoided all of Channel 11′s questions.

“Thomas, do you have any comment about the child porn on your phone and at home? 80 images, 18 videos of underage kids?” Channel 11 asked.

His attorney responded on his behalf.

“He has no comment.”

Duxbury waived his right to a preliminary hearing and all charges were held for court.

Keystone Oaks parents told Channel 11 that they were very extremely concerned because Duxbury worked around both elementary and high school children up until April this year.

“No child from Keystone Oaks was ever harmed. No child was ever put in danger. He never propositioned a child. He never perped on a child,” said Sean Logue, Duxbury’s defense attorney.

Police say the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cyber tip last July that a person identified only by a username was sending videos of an underage girl performing sex acts.

Allegheny County police started investigating the case in March 2022, when they received the tip in their database.

Investigators say Duxbury was using alternative email accounts and different usernames on social media to trade explicit images and videos of children.

“Does he feel bad about everything? Absolutely, he feels bad about everything. Is he gonna take responsibility for his actions? Absolutely, he will,” said Logue.

Duxbury remains free on his own recognizance.

His formal arraignment is set for July 14.

A spokesperson with the Keystone Oaks School District said the district does not have any comment on today’s court proceedings.

At this time, Duxbury is still on administrative leave.

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