Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release

June 24, 2009
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Elementary School Teacher Sentenced On Child Pornography Charges In Orange County

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the sentencing of a Pasco County elementary school teacher in on charges of internet solicitation of someone he thought was a child. Joel Matthew Cupp, a former teacher at Trinity Oaks Elementary School, was sentenced in Orange County to nine years in prison to be followed by four years probation and will have to register as a sex offender.

Cupp, 29, was arrested in August of 2008 after chatting with four separate undercover investigators with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, believing he was talking to four young teenage girls. Cupp also exposed himself multiple times over a webcam to the “children.”

Cupp is currently serving a six year prison sentence from the Citrus County case and will now be sent to Martin County to face similar charges. His sentence announced today will be served concurrently with the Citrus County prison term.