South Fayette man gets 15 years in prison for filming sex with teen

A South Fayette man will serve 15 years in federal prison for filming himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Matthew Trax, 25, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy. In addition to the prison term — which was part of his plea agreement — Trax will also serve 10 years supervised release.

He pleaded guilty to producing child sexual abuse material in April.

According to the criminal complaint, Trax, who had a master’s degree in accounting and worked as an associate auditor, met the girl on the social media app Snapchat and knew that she was underage.

“How many years til ur 18? 3 or 4?” he texted her on Nov. 29, 2023, police said.

According to investigators, the two met multiple times. After Trax recorded the two of them, he sent the video and images to the girl.

The girl’s parents learned of the situation in December of that year and contacted police. Trax was charged a month later by Allegheny County Police with sexual assault and possession of child pornography in Allegheny County Common Pleas court.

He was indicted in federal court in May of that year for the same conduct.

According to Trax’s sentencing memorandum in the federal case, he believed he was in a relationship with the girl.

It lasted about two weeks, his attorney wrote.

“His conduct involved a single victim with whom he misguidedly thought he was in a relationship — he was not a predator who preyed on multiple minors and/or hunted the internet for vulnerable prey,” his lawyer wrote.

The state case is still pending. According to the sentencing memo filed in the federal case, Trax has tentatively reached an agreement with state prosecutors to plead guilty for a sentence of five to 10 years to run at the same time as his federal prison term.

That case is scheduled for Sept. 15.