Seneca Valley Teacher Arrested For Child Porn Possession

WEXFORD (KDKA) - A Seneca Valley teacher has been accused of possessing child pornography.

Jonathan Brecht, 26, has been charged with felony possession of child pornography.

A criminal complaint issued by the Allegheny County District Attorney's office states that Brecht was found to be "sex chatting" with an underage girl on a website called "skout.com." In the chat, he allegedly asked the minor if she wanted to have sex. The girl was reportedly between the ages of 12 and 14.

When confronted about the conversation, he admitted to it and stated that it was a bad lack of judgement.

Brecht eventually agreed to turn over two hard drives. On the hard drives, detectives found sexual images of children.

Sources tell KDKA that Brecht is a 7th grade math teacher at Seneca Valley Middle School, though Brecht told investigators he worked at a Target store. Around midday Friday, KDKA received a statement from Mike Manko, the spokesperson for Allegheny County District Attorney's Office:

"We were first notified of this defendant's connection to the school district earlier today by the school district.  The revelation that this defendant is employed in a setting with young children is a significant concern.  We will be continuing our investigation in an effort to determine if this defendant has had any inappropriate or abusive contact with children.  We will also be notifying the Butler County District Attorneys Office of these charges so that they can check for any potential concerns in their jurisdiction."

Seneca Valley School District sent a notice to parents, reading:

The Seneca Valley School District has suspended, without pay, a Seneca Valley Middle School teacher who is facing criminal charges in Allegheny County.

Mr. Jonathan Brecht, a Seneca Valley Middle School Mathematics Teacher, has been removed from the classroom pending further investigation. At this time, we have no reason to believe the charges against the suspended employee are connected with the District.

Due to the nature of the criminal investigation, the District cannot provide any further comment on the matter. Should we receive additional information for which we are permitted to share, we will be sure to communicate it with you.

Parents at the school have expressed outrage and concern over Brecht being hired.

"They need to do more background checks more on them [teachers] and they need to see if they have any kind of prior arrests or anything or had any kind of illicit behavior at all," Dave Baldwin said.

Everyone in the community seemed to share a sense of being stunned by the news.

"Yeah it surprises me," said recent Seneca Valley grad Luke Barkley. "It shouldn't be happening. But it's happening I guess," he said.

Attorney David Shrager, who has been hired to defend Brecht, reacted with caution.

"Of course the charges are quite serious," he said. "They're very serious allegations that merit a complete and thorough investigation which myself and my office intend to pursue."

Brecht's preliminary hearing is at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 23.

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