A former volunteer instructor at a Bustleton martial arts school was sentenced on Friday to serve 60 years in federal prison for producing pornography involving two children, ages 2 and 3.
Steven Mazer, 27, of the 300 block of Hoffnagle St., received the statutory maximum sentence from U.S. District Judge Jan E. Dubois, who also ordered Mazer to pay a $2,500 fine and serve five years of supervised release. Mazer would be in his mid-80s before he would become eligible for release from prison because federal law contains no provisions for early parole.
In December 2011, Mazer agreed to babysit a friend’s son, 2, and daughter, 3. While the children were in his care, he enticed and coerced them to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which he photographed or video recorded, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities did not disclose how the abuse came to light. Federal agents arrested Mazer in September 2012. He pleaded guilty in June 2013 to two counts of producing child pornography.
At the time of his arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office identified Mazer as a “karate” instructor at a “school in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia that offers classes to children.” Authorities never disclosed the name of the school, but later identified Mazer as a student and volunteer there, not an employee. Authorities further stated that they had no evidence that Mazer victimized any youths involved in the school. ••
