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Tuckahoe resident John Mueser, age 72, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for enticing a seven-year-old child that he had been tutoring to engage in sexual activity, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Wednesday, April 19.
According to federal officials, Mueser, who had been a private school teacher in the Bronx and a private tutor, forced a seven-year-old child he had been tutoring to engage in sexually explicit activity on May 1, 2019. He also recorded this activity with his iPhone.
When authorities later searched his iPhone, it was found to have contained hundreds of sexually explicit images of the victim and other prepubescent children, officials said.
Additionally, years before his abuse of the victim, Mueser also sexually abused two other children, which continued for years.
Mueser pleaded guilty to his crimes on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
Judge Vincent Briccetti, who sentenced Mueser, called his actions "truly reprehensible."
"Is there anything more evil than sexually abusing small children for your own sexual gratification?” Briccetti asked, also adding that his imposed sentence "might amount to a life sentence,” and "that does not trouble me at all.”
US Attorney Damian Williams also commented on the heinousness of the case, saying, "To the world, John Mueser presented himself as a dedicated teacher. But in reality, Mueser exploited the trust placed in him as an educator in order to gain access to the victim’s home and to carry out his sickening abuse."
In addition to his 25-year sentence, Mueser was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
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