David St. George, Child Pornography, Massachusetts 2022

BOSTON, Massachusetts – A former employee of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra has been sentenced in federal court for possession of child pornography.

David St. George, 75, of Arlington, was sentenced on September 14, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to five years in prison and five years of supervised release. St. George was also ordered to pay a $5,100 special assessment and restitution of $3,000 to each of the victims in this case.

On March 30, 2022, St. George pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime. It depicts child abuse. Plain and simple. Every single image or video of the material entails unspeakable harm and trauma inflicted upon an innocent child, and those who possess, distribute or view it not only break the law but more importantly revictimize these children with each act that sexualizes them,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.

According to court documents, in May 2018, investigators received information regarding a shared secure online storage account containing child pornography. The IP address for this account ultimately was linked to St. George’s internet. The storage account contained over 5,000 files, including sexually explicit images and videos of children, many of which depicted child sexual abuse – including the depiction of an adult raping an infant of approximately one year of age.

In September 2018, a search of St. George’s residence revealed thousands of files of child pornography, including the depiction of sexual assaults of children between six-and-eight years old. Emails revealed that St. George continued to re-post child sexual abuse materials despite being repeatedly banned by an online service provider.

U.S. Attorney Rollins and HSI SAC Millhollin made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Arlington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney James D. Herbert of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

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