Ex-Central Bucks Choir Director Jailed For Assault Of Students

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A former Central Bucks West High School choir director is going to jail for indecently assaulting two former students and filming another former student as he undressed.

Joseph Ohrt, 57, of Buckingham Township, was sentenced on Monday, June 12 to 2 ½ years to five years in state prison after pleading no contest in October to two counts each of indecent assault, corruption of minors, and invasion of privacy and one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

In addition to the state prison sentence, Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced Ohrt to
five years of probation and ordered that he continue sexual offender treatment and undergo a mental health evaluation. As part of his plea, Ohrt will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Prior to sentencing, the three victims gave tearful and powerful statements, telling the court how Ohrt’s actions have impacted their lives. “You not only invaded my privacy, but you invaded my entire being,” one of the victims said in court.

Another victim called Ohrt, the “lowest of lows” and asked Judge Finley to give him the maximum sentence.

The judge sentenced Ohrt in the aggravated range of sentencing, saying his conduct will have an impact on the victims for decades and has impacted the community at large.

Finley told Ohrt, who gave a statement before he was sentenced, that he did not find him remorseful or empathetic to the victims. “You don’t care about anybody but yourself,” the judge said.

Ohrt was first charged on Feb. 8, 2022, after an investigation found he took a video recording of a former male student without consent.

Following the publicity of his arrest, detectives received multiple tips from people reporting inappropriate past contact with Ohrt, leading to additional charges a month later that he sexually assaulted two former students.

Detective Sergeant Paul Kreuter of the Central Bucks Regional Police Department and Detective Greg Beidler of the Bucks County Detectives investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Brittney M. Kern.