CLARK — A former teacher in the Clark public school system has pled guilty to charges related to child endangerment and the possession of illicit materials involving minors.
Matthew Serwedes, 49, who taught Multimedia Technologies and supervised the Clark public school district’s KTV station for approximately 20 years before his publicized arrest last year, plead guilty to third-degree endangerment of the welfare of a child and third-degree possession of materials containing the sexual abuse of children in front of Judge Lance Kalik on Monday, May 4 in Somerset County where he resides.
Serwedes was arrested in 2025 following a tip to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office (SCPO) Cyber Crimes Hotline.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit Detectives, along with members of the Hillsborough Township Police Department executed a Superior Court Search Warrant at Serwedes’ residence in February of last year, where they seized all of his electronic devices and placed him under arrest.
The subsequent investigation revealed that Serwedes, who identified himself on social media as “austinwestmore,” had uploaded multiple images of sexual exploitation to Kik, a messaging app that has a long history of use by child predators. Serwedes later told authorities that he had developed the online persona (purporting to be a male between the age of 17 and 18 years old) in order to participate in group chats intended for minors.
Clark Superintendent Edward Grande said shortly after Serwedes’ arrest that there was “no reason to believe” that students in the District had come to any harm.
Serwedes admitted last week to possessing at least five videos of children that were “naked or engaged in sexual acts” that he had obtained through the Kik app. He also admitting to using the app to communicate with others and acknowledged that the children in the videos had suffered serious abuse for the purposes of providing pleasure to himself and others like him.
Judge Kalik told Serwedes last week that the State is recommending a 364-day prison sentence to be served in the Morris County Jail followed by life on parole.
“The Court is not bound by this recommendation,” Judge Kalik said, “If I felt that a more severe sentence should be imposed, I would let the Attorneys know.”
Serwedes, who could face up to 20 years in prison should he ever violate his parole, will also be required to register as a sex offender in accordance with Megan’s Law, attend regular counseling sessions and immediately forfeit his teaching certificate.
He also faces fines upwards of $5,000 and an additional $55 for every month that he is on parole, submit to psychological evaluations (including one regarding his risk of recidivism) by the Department of Corrections and may face restrictions in terms of where he is allowed to live, work or travel going forward.
A representative from the SCPO told The Leader this week that Serwedes’ case was still “pending” and did not provide any additional comment.
Serwedes is scheduled for sentencing in August.
