Negley man faces sentencing for taking pictures of nude children

Matthew Severs

A 40-year-old Negley man who authorities say secretly took photographs of naked children faces a judge on Friday for sentencing.

Matthew Severs is scheduled to appear in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on seven counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material.

Severs pleaded to the charges in October following a secret indictment alleging that he took nude images of two children, as young as ten and 13, from 2019 through 2021.

As part of a plea deal, the judge dismissed four counts of trespassing or invading the privacy of a child to videotape or take pictures of them while they were naked for sexual gratification.

Prosecutors are asking for a ten-year sentence and also want Severs declared as a Tier Two Sex Offender.