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Ex-Oakland County Camp Counselor Gets 10 Years For Child Porn

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A young man accused of taking photos of nude boys while working as a counselor at an Oakland County camp has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Matthew Kuppe was sentenced Tuesday, eight months after pleading guilty to distributing photos of nude kids on the internet. A charge of producing child porn was dropped as part of the plea deal.

The investigation began with a tip about photos of young boys on a foreign website as the 22-year-old was working as a counselor at the Jewish Community Center, which operates day camps in West Bloomfield and Oak Park.

Documents filed in District Court list disturbing specifics of Kuppe's illegal activities — including posting nine pictures of a completely nude 5-year-old boy in the locker room of the Jewish Community Center to a Russian photo-sharing website. The documents say Kuppe also posted six photos of a 6-year-old boy changing into his pajamas and another 5-year-old boy using the bathroom.

In his plea deal, Kuppe admitted to posting the photos. Although he initially argued that the images were "child erotica" — not child porn — he now says he's sorry for causing any harm.

Kuppe told Judge Avern Cohn that he did a "bad thing" but says it doesn't mean he's a "bad person."

© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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