Former KY superintendent sentenced to 30 years in prison for child exploitation
A former Owensboro Public Schools superintendent was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Wednesday on charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors.
Matthew Constant, 53, served as superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools from 2020 to May 2023, when he was suspended and eventually removed from his post by the school board for allegations of sexual impropriety with a minor. Two months later, he was arrested and initially charged with using electronic means to procure or promote the use of a minor 12 years or older for sexual activities, and tampering with physical evidence — both Class D felonies.
Those charges were later expanded in a formal indictment by a federal grand jury to include multiple accounts of sexual exploitation and online enticement of a minor, and the transfer of obscene material to children.
“There is nothing more despicable, nothing more repugnant than hurting a child,” U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky Greg Stivers said as he was sentencing Constant. As a career educator, Stivers said Constant “understood the harm this kind of predation does to a child,” the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported.
Constant, who was a longtime Daviess County-area educator before becoming superintendent, was initially believed, based on third-party allegations, to have had a relationship with an 18-year-old student in another school district. While Kentucky State Police were never able to pin down the exact age of that student, the probe into that allegation led police to uncover additional electronic communication Constant had with other minors, and his attempts to erase some messages.
According to a July 28, 2023 arrest citation, Constant “admitted to tampering with physical evidence during an interview, and attempted to procure and solicit sexual acts from minors, having full knowledge he was speaking with juvenile children.” It said Constant “used multiple accounts from electronic devices to execute these acts.”
KSP Public Affairs Office Corey King said at the time it appeared Constant “had master cleared his mobile devices, essentially erasing everything. So we’re working to restore everything we can, which is time consuming. Pair that with social media apps, the various platforms, to get records they have, it just takes time.”
In August 2024, a federal grand jury in Bowling Green indicted Constant on two counts of online enticement of a minor, three counts of receipt of child pornography, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and two counts of transferring obscene material to a minor. After previously entering a not guilty plea, Constant pleaded guilty to all nine counts without a plea agreement.
Constant’s attorney, Bryce Caldwell, had requested a 20-year sentence, arguing that amount of time would still demonstrate the U.S. Attorney’s Office still took Constant’s actions seriously, the Owensboro Times reported.
“At the end of the day, he wants to take responsibility,” Caldwell said.
But because Constant knowingly engaged in “intentional abuse that went on for three to four years,” and because it’s unclear if there were more victims, “360 months is not greater than necessary,” Stivers said Wednesday, emphasizing that he stopped short of a life sentence only because there was no physical contact with the victims.
He described Constant as a “pillar of this community,” while also acknowledging, “There was some sort of childhood trauma, something in Mr. Constant that got broken when he was a child.”
Constant, who was given the opportunity to speak publicly for the first time since he was arrested, tearfully read from a prepared statement, the Owensboro Times reported, apologizing for his actions, which he said he was “eternally sorry for.”
“I have waited two long years to speak and publicly take accountability,” he said. “I have made some grave mistakes.”
Constant said he has “always tried to be an advocate for people,” but, “at 53, it is past time for me to learn healthy ways to deal with my own issues.”
Addressing his community, he said, “I know how I have brought shame and can only hope to get better.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 10:47 AM.
