SOUDERTON — A former Souderton Area School District band instructor has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and endangering the welfare of children in a pair of separate cases in Lehigh and Montgomery counties, respectively.
Perry Boucher, 49, of Bethlehem, entered an open guilty plea in Montgomery County on Wednesday on one felony count of endangering the welfare of a child, with a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors being dropped in exchange. The charges stem from an investigation by the Souderton Borough Police Department, which revealed Boucher had groomed and sexually assaulted a former student on multiple occasions in 2008.
An open guilty plea means the defense and the prosecution agreed on which charges Boucher would plead guilty to, as well as which ones would be dismissed. However, there is no agreement on sentencing, meaning a judge will ultimately levy the sentence.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 21, 2024, and a spokesperson for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said sentencing guidelines recommend a three-to-12-month jail sentence.
Boucher is currently in custody at the Lehigh County Correctional Facility, after being sentenced in November to six to 23 months in jail on a possession of child pornography charge. Court records show Boucher was initially arrested in August 2022 in Bethlehem, and his sentence was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors that saw an additional count of possession of child pornography as well as a felony criminal use of a communication facility charge dropped in exchange for his plea.
In Montgomery County, the investigation began in September 2021 after a former female student contacted police alleging she had been sexually assaulted by Boucher during the 2008-2009 school year at the old Souderton Area High School on North School Lane. Boucher worked for the district as a part-time instructor from sometime before 2002 through 2012, police said.
The former student said she had met Boucher through band practice in 2007, when Boucher noted she seemed distracted and offered his friendship and said he could be a good listener, according to charging documents. The student began to talk to Boucher about her personal problems, and he began providing her gifts including clothing, a necklace, an iPod, and a cell phone, police said.
Boucher continued to communicate with the student via text and through MySpace, and while the initial conversations were described as professional by police, they eventually evolved into more personal and sexual discussions, investigators said. Messages from Boucher became constant throughout the day and became controlling in nature, along with creating guilt when the student wouldn’t immediately respond, according to the criminal complaint.
By the school year beginning in 2008, the relationship became physical, police said, with Boucher sexually assaulting the girl — who was still a juvenile at the time — at least twice in a janitor’s closet, according to the complaint.
Police also allege that Boucher gave the teen four or five oxycodone pills when she mentioned she had a headache, which she forced herself to throw up after learning what they were.
Charges were filed against Boucher on June 14.
In response to a request for comment, Souderton Area School District Superintendent Frank T. Gallagher said he could only confirm that Boucher worked as a part-time employee with the band program from 2002 through 2012, adding there was no record of any such complaints while he was an employee with the district.
An online search shows a student-launched petition to retain Boucher after his contract with the Souderton Area School District was not renewed in 2012. Boucher also appears to have gone on to hold some type of marching band instructor roles with several other high schools in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
Following our initial report in June, police issued a call for potential additional victims to come forward, as well as anyone else who may have information that could aid in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Souderton Borough Police Department at 215-723-6500. Anonymous tips can be made here.
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