Child Pornography Charges Filed Against Ex-Camp Fitch Director

ERIE, PA — The former executive director of Camp Fitch, a summer camp for kids, has been accused of possession of child pornography.

According to court documents obtained by Patch, Matthew Poese is accused of having child pornography in his possession from November 2018 to June 2019. The pornography was kept on his cell phone, an external hard drive and on a network storage device, the court documents said.

Poese was suspended by the YMCA of Youngstown, which runs Camp Fitch, as soon as officials learned of the charges against him. Poese was fired on June 19.

"We fully supported the FBI during its investigation. The charge does not allege any misconduct or inappropriate activity by Mr. Poese with any Camp Fitch camper," said Thomas Gacse, president and CEO of YMCA of Youngstown.

Pre-employment checks were done on Poese and came back clean, Gacse said. He had no previous record or cause for concern in his background. He also had no disciplinary issues while working at Camp Fitch.

"We take our responsibility to children and their families very seriously. We have a series of measures in place to keep kids safe, including thorough background checks on all employees and required staff training on recognizing and preventing child abuse. We also work with Praesidium, renowned authorities and institutional consultants, focused solely on the elimination of child abuse within organizations," Gacse said in a statement given to Patch.

Poese's attorney was not immediately available for comment.