SOUTH WALES, N.Y. — A former administrator for The Gow School is facing charges of child pornography.
Matthew Fisher, 50, of South Wales is charged with possession of child pornography.
According to the US Attorney's Western District Office, Fisher brought his school-owned laptop to the IT department on Sunday October, 15 because the keyboard was not working properly.
A little over a week later, the IT employee was notified of a 'low severity alert' on the laptop. While searching the laptop, the IT employee allegedly found files marked "Neverland" and "Lost Boys." When the employees looked at one of the sites, they discovered images of naked boys under the age of 10 conducting sex acts on each other.
The images were copied and moved to a thumb drive and the head of The Gow School was notified, who turned over the thumb drive to the FBI and the Western New York Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory.
Investigators did a forensics analysis, recovering more images of child pornography. They say some of the images appear to be "from a covert camera and depict clothed, male children in a bedroom believed to be on campus of The Gow School."
The images are timestamped from January 2019 through September 2023.
Fisher, who is no longer employed by The Gow School, appeared in Federal Court on Tuesday. He is currently being held pending a detention hearing Friday. If convicted, Fisher could face up to 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI are now reaching out with the concern there could be more victims in this case.
U.S. Attorney Trini Ross told reporters Friday, "He's been an administrator at the Gow School for five years, and information that has developed from this ongoing investigation has lead us to believe that there may be victims that we don't know about, and we want to make sure that all victims are heard and receive the services that they will need and deserve."
A Gow School statement says they are obviously continuing to cooperate with investigators, very concerned for any students or families involved, making sure all information is shared, and providing on campus counselors.
In a letter sent from the Gow School to its community, it was stated that "with the backing of our Board of Trustees, Gow hired a New York City security firm to scan all dorm buildings, locker rooms, and restrooms to be certain that no unauthorized devices are present. We expect that process will be completed during the Thanksgiving Break."
Anyone who might be involved can call Toll Free: 833-609-1736, and then press 1 or 716-843-5797. They can also Email: usanyw.gowvicasst@usdoj.gov, or check the WDNY USAO website.