Ex-camp aide faces April hearing to dispute evidence

An April hearing date has been set for a former West Bloomfield camp counselor facing child pornography charges and who wants his statement to police and other evidence tossed.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn set hearing dates for April 7 and April 8 for Matthew Kuppe, who alleges he did not knowingly waive his Miranda rights when he was interrogated by the FBI for nearly two hours outside his Oakland County home Aug. 12, 2015.

Kuppe’s attorney, Walter Piszczatowski, says that on a recording of the interview with an FBI agent Kuppe is heard saying, “I want, I think I want a lawyer then.” According to Piszczatowski, “the request was ignored as if the words were never spoken. The interrogation then proceeded for another hour and a half.”

Kuppe is accused of filming prepubescent boys in a locker room at the Jewish Community Center. He allegedly used his cellphone to take nine sexually explicit photos of a 5-year-old boy Aug. 5, prosecutors said. That night, he allegedly uploaded the photos to a Russian website.

Piszczatowski is also trying to suppress evidence from Kuppe’s email accounts and from AOL and Google, claiming it was improperly obtained, and have four of the six counts against him dismissed, alleging the images that are central to the case do not constitute “sexually explicit conduct” under the law and don’t support the charges.

The images are all in a restroom or locker room and appear to have been surreptitiously taken without the subjects’ knowledge, Piszczatowski wrote.

In November, Cohn released Kuppe on bond with several conditions including wearing a GPS tether and staying with his parents.

Kuppe faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which include production and distribution of child pornography.

Oakland County prosecutors declined to file charges, saying they were unable to find enough evidence.

JChambers@detroitnews.com

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