A former Cambridge music teacher and a Filipino national living in Baltimore were recently indicted on charges that accuse the men of exploiting minor boys in the Philippines to produce sexual abuse materials, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Joshua DeWitte, 50, of Cambridge, was indicted by a federal grand jury Oct. 29 on six counts of sexual exploitation of children (and attempt and conspiracy); one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children; one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

DeWitte was arrested in January and faced other charges: six counts of disseminating obscene material to a child, one count of distribution of material depicting a child in a sexual act and one count of possession of child pornography.

He was released on conditions then but was arrested again in May and charged with sexual exploitation of minors (and attempt and conspiracy), according to the U.S Attorney’s office.

Christopher Allan Tisoy, 27, a Filipino national residing in Baltimore, Maryland, was charged by an information on Oct. 29 with one count of sexual exploitation of children (and attempt and conspiracy) and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children.

Tisoy had also been arrested in May and charged with sexual exploitation of minors (and attempt and conspiracy).

Both men now remain in federal custody, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a press release not made public until Nov. 13, after the federal government reopened from a 43-day shutdown.

At the time DeWitte is alleged to have committed these crimes, he was a music teacher at the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols K-12 School, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s Office.

He was placed on leave in January while Cambridge police “continue their investigations,” Head of School Jennifer Price said in a statement then, confirming he had just started at the school at the beginning of the school year. Police didn’t believe any students at the school were involved in the case.

Tisoy entered the U.S. legally in September 2024 and was employed as a medical technologist at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

In December 2024, DeWitte was identified as the owner of a Snapchat account that uploaded a file of suspected child sexual abuse material depicting the abuse of a boy who appeared to be between 8 and 10 years old, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Records obtained from Snapchat indicated that DeWitte had multiple conversations that were sexual in nature with users who presented themselves as minors in September 2024.

In those conversations, DeWitte requested nude pictures from the purported minors, sent pictures of his penis and discussed previous and potential in-person meetups during which they would have sexual relations, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Additionally, it is alleged that DeWitte paid and offered to pay another Snapchat user to obtain and produce child sexual abuse material.

Based on that information, state law enforcement obtained a search warrant for DeWitte’s home in January, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. He was arrested and charged in Cambridge District Court with six counts of disseminating obscene material to a child, one count of distribution of material depicting a child in a sexual act and one count of possession of child pornography. He was later released with conditions.

A forensic examination of DeWitte’s cell phone — which was seized when he was first arrested — revealed a Telegram conversation between him and Tisoy in which they arranged for the production of videos depicting the sexual exploitation of at least two minor boys in the Philippines, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The two are alleged to have negotiated conditions under which the videos would be produced, including which minors should be involved, which sex acts they would perform, who would film them, what angles would be filmed and how much DeWitte would pay Tisoy for each video.

The negotiation incorporated the sexual preferences of both men, with both agreeing on what they would each find sexually gratifying, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Tisoy then allegedly relayed these instructions to the minor victims to create a video.

DeWitte is alleged to have paid Tisoy for each video he produced and sent, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. It is alleged that, between July 3, 2023 and Dec. 27, 2024, DeWitte sent 87 PayPal payments to Tisoy, in amounts ranging from $27 to $958 and totaling nearly $24,000.