Former band instructor sentenced to jail for sexual relationship with student
SOUDERTON — A former Souderton Area School District band instructor has been sentenced in Montgomery County Court to jail time for a relationship with a former student 16 years ago.
Perry Boucher, 49, of Bethlehem, was sentenced to three to 23 months in Montgomery County prison, after an open guilty plea to one felony count of endangering the welfare of children in December. Boucher made the plea as part of a deal with prosecutors that saw a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors dropped in exchange.
Boucher is currently serving a six- to 23-month sentence at the Lehigh County Correctional Facility, after he pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of possession of child pornography. Sentencing notes in the Montgomery County case indicate Boucher will begin his sentence at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after he has been released from Lehigh County, however he will also receive credit for 64 days of time served, according to court records.
Sentencing notes also indicate Boucher will be placed on sex offender supervision, he is prohibited from having contact with minors, and he has been ordered to pay court costs and undergo a sex offender assessment.
In Montgomery County, the investigation began in September 2021 after a former female student contacted police alleging they had been sexually assaulted by Boucher during the 2008-2009 school year at the old Souderton Area High School on North School Lane. Boucher worked for the district as a part-time instructor from sometime prior to 2002 through 2012, police said.
The former student said they had met Boucher through band practice in 2007, when Boucher noted she seemed distracted, offered his friendship and said he could be a good listener, according to charging documents. The student began to talk to Boucher about her personal problems, and he began providing her with gifts including clothing, a necklace, an iPod and a cellphone, police said.
Boucher continued to communicate with the student via text and through MySpace, and while the initial conversations were described as professional, they eventually evolved into more personal and sexual discussions, investigators said. Messages from Boucher became constant throughout the day and became controlling in nature, along with creating guilt when the student wouldn’t immediately respond, according to the criminal complaint.
By the school year beginning 2008, the relationship became physical, police said, with Boucher sexually assaulting the girl — who was still a juvenile at the time — at least twice in a janitor’s closet, according to the complaint.
Police also allege that Boucher gave the teen four or five oxycodone pills when she mentioned she had a headache, which she forced herself to throw up after learning what they were.
Charges were filed against Boucher on June 14.
Souderton police investigators said the institutional sexual assault statute — which they said could have applied in this investigation — was not enacted until 2012, and they cannot retroactively charge under the statute.
Souderton Area School District Superintendent Frank T. Gallagher said he could only confirm that Boucher worked as a parttime employee with the band program from 2002 through 2012, adding there was no record of any such complaints while he was an employee with the district.
An online search shows a student-launched petition to retain Boucher after his contract with the Souderton Area School District was not renewed in 2012. Boucher also appears to have gone on to hold some type of marching band instructor roles with several other high schools in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
Police issued a call for potential additional victims to come forward, as well as anyone else who may have information that could aid in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Souderton Borough Police Department at 215-723-6500.