(WHTM) – A former Montgomery County special education teacher has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for traveling to the Philippines to engage in sex with children as young as 12.

According to the Department of Justice, Craig Levin of King of Prussia traveled to the Philippines nine times between 2016-19 to have sex with disadvantaged minors.

In May 2019, the Philippine National Police arrested Levin at a hotel with a 15 year old girl, according to the Justice Department. The investigation found notebooks in Levin’s hotel room that included hundreds of ages and names of girls rated on categories with girls under 18 getting a top score of 10.

The Justice Department says Levin also created Facebook accounts to communicate with minors to elicit sexual conduct and used Facebook Messenger to send child pornography to minors in the Philippines.

In June 2022, Levin pleaded guilty to six counts charging him with foreign travel to engage in sex with a minor, attempted sex trafficking of a minor, and distribution and transportation of child pornography. 

Levin previously worked for the Lower Merion School District.

“Mr. Levin, someone who worked for years in a position of trust as a teacher, traveled to (the) country and stayed for months at a time in order to prey on children undetected – or so he thought,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Our Office, together with our law enforcement partners, works day and night to investigate and track criminals like this defendant, even when they try to hide on the other side of the world. Our message to them with this case is simple: you cannot hide; we will find you and we will hold you accountable in a court of law.”

“Craig Levin apparently thought, because he was halfway around the world, he could commit these heinous crimes with impunity,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He could not have been more wrong. As this case shows, the FBI’s reach is long, and we’ll do everything in our power to end the sexual exploitation of children, be they in Philadelphia or the Philippines. Protecting vulnerable kids from predators like Levin continues to be one of the Bureau’s top priorities.”