14-03-2025
Music teacher sent explicit videos, tried to meet with 13-year-old, NY official says
A school music teacher sent sexually explicit videos to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, then tried to meet up with her — but it wasn't a teen girl he was talking to, according to a district attorney's office in New York.
As a Buffalo Public School District employee, Steven C. DeMart repeatedly messaged with the person on social media, believing they were a minor, according to Eerie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane.
DeMart, 36, of Amherst, pleaded guilty March 12 to one count of attempted endangering the welfare of a child, Keane's office said in a March 14 news release.
A judge sentenced the now-former music teacher to a one-year conditional discharge, according to the district attorney's office.
DeMart was also ordered to give up his teaching license, the district attorney's office said.
Attorney information for DeMart wasn't listed in the release.
The attempted meet-up happened May 28, 2024, according to the district attorney.
That same day, DeMart himself reported to Amherst Police Department and told officers about his attempt to meet up with the supposed child, according to the district attorney's office.
In June, a Buffalo Public School District spokesperson told WKBW-TV that DeMart 'was immediately placed on paid administrative leave on May 29, 2024, pending an investigation.'
DeMart was suspended as a teacher following the police report, the district attorney's office said in an earlier news release announcing his Aug. 22 arraignment.
He was 'communicating with an adult who was impersonating a juvenile female,' the office said at the time.
The district attorney's office didn't identify the adult.
In recent years across the U.S., people have set out to catch adults who might be preying on children online, McClatchy News previously reported. Several citizens have formed groups to carry out their own unofficial sting operations, which often involve a member of the group posing as a decoy minor.
Mary Graw Leary, a law professor at the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law and a former federal prosecutor, previously told McClatchy News that 'if your goal is to incarcerate offenders of children, the best people to leave it to are the professionals, law enforcement, prosecutors, etc.'
Suspected child exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online, or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
