NKyTribune staff
A convicted child molester who was already sentenced to 45 years in prison was found guilty of 62 additional counts of child sex crimes last week.
Bucher
Matthew Bucher, 31, now faces a combined sentence of 60 years on prison for the crimes he has been convicted of to date.
Prosecutors say he could face additional charges if more victims come forward.
The Kenton County Commonweath’s Attorney’s office released the following statement regarding the ongoing investigation against Bucher and the latest conviction:
In 2016, a Kenton County Police investigation by Sgt. Chris Pittaluga and Detective Jay Downs revealed Matthew Bucher was engaged in sexual activity with a 12-year-old child.
The same investigation led to the execution of a search warrant on Bucher’s residence and the seizure of electronic devices which were found to contain homemade child pornography depicting Bucher engaged in sex acts with underage victims.
One of the victims was identified as a Covington resident and an additional investigation was opened by Covington Police Detective Justin Bradbury.
Bradbury’s investigation revealed the then-15 year old child met Bucher on-line. Bucher’s on-line profile claimed he was 16 years old.
When confronted by the victim’s family with their disbelief about his age, Bucher claimed to be 19-years-old. In fact, Bucher was 27.
Bucher took the child on dates to the zoo, museums, and out to dinner, all while pretending to be 19.
Bucher engaged in sex acts with the child at an apartment in Ft. Mitchell that he shared with his mother. Shortly after the child’s 16th birthday (Kentucky’s legal age of consent), Bucher revealed his real age and the relationship ended.
Sanders
Detective Downs’ forensic examination of the images on Bucher’s computer depicting sex acts between Bucher and the victim confirmed the images were created before the child’s 16th birthday.
The Kenton County Grand Jury indicted Bucher for 30 counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Minor, 30 counts of Possession of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor, Rape 3rd Degree and Sodomy 3rd Degree.
The case was called for trial before Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe on March 6, 2019. Asst. Commonwealth’s Attorneys Emily Arnzen and Kate Homan presented testimony from the victim, the victim’s mother, Detective Bradbury, Detective Downs, and Covington Police Officer Rob Linton over the course of a two day trial.
In addition, the jury was shown all 30 images of child pornography in question. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury took only 30 minutes to return verdicts of guilty on all 62 counts.
After hearing additional evidence and testimony, the jury recommended Bucher serve a combined sentence of 15 years in prison. A date for formal, final sentencing is yet to be announced but should take place in April.
What the jury did not hear was any testimony or evidence about Bucher’s other victims. They also did not know that a previous jury convicted Bucher of similar crimes with the original victim and sentenced him to 45 years in prison.
Under Kentucky law, sentences for sexual offenses against different child victims must run consecutively, meaning Bucher is now facing a combined total of 60 years in prison for his first two cases.
Jones
Bucher has already been indicted for two more cases involving different child victims as well as another case for possessing child pornography believed to have been downloaded from the internet.
Still more indictments are possible as detectives continue to identify even more victims depicted in Bucher’s cache of homemade child pornography.
Asst. Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Arnzen said “We will not stop prosecuting Matthew Bucher so long as victims are willing to testify. Every victim will have their day in court and know this defendant will be held accountable for the pain he caused them.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders applauded the commitment of his prosecutors and police detectives in their dogged pursuit of Bucher, who Sanders referred to as “Quite possibly the most prolific child molester in the history of Kenton County.”
Kenton County Police Chief Spike Jones referred to Bucher as “A bad guy” and said “He’s the worst of the worst.”
Even though it has been almost two years since his arrest, Jones said police still don’t know how many potential victims exist.
“Our detectives continue working to identify the victims depicted in Bucher’s collection of child pornography but we may never know how many victims were not captured on camera.”
Sanders also said “Unfortunately, no matter how many victims are identified, no mater how many juries convict, and no matter how many years in prison he receives, under Kentucky law, Bucher will still be eligible for parole in twenty years.”
Sanders vowed that so long as he and his prosecutors are alive, Bucher, now 31, will see at least one of them at every parole hearing.
“We may be retired, we may be there in wheelchairs,” said Sanders, “But we’ll be there, working to make sure he never, ever, gets out of prison.”
