A 49-year-old piano instructor has been charged with the indecent assault of four male victims who he inappropriately massaged during their lessons Bucks County authorities announced at a press conference on Friday.
Timothy James Shay, of Plumstead Township, was arraigned on Feb. 14, 2025, with four counts each of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years -old and corruption of minors.
He was sent to Bucks County Correctional Facility by Magisterial District Judge John T. Galloway who set his bail at $1 million, 10 percent.
All the charged offenses occurred more than two decades ago, and investigators strongly believe there may be other victims and are asking for them to please come forward. Anyone with information can contact Middletown Twp Detective John Beck at (215) 750-3872. You can also submit an anonymous tip by clicking here.
This joint investigation by the Middletown Twp.Police Department and the Newtown Township Police Department began in February when police received a report of suspected child sexual abuse that occurred at a residence in Langhorne section of Middletown.
The victim reported that the sexual abuse happened between the years of 1998 and 2003 when the victim was a juvenile and the defendant was his private piano instructor.
The lessons occurred at the victim’s residence, and the abuse progressed over the years, said authorities.
It began with the defendant massaging the victim’s wrists, which the defendant described as warmups before piano lessons. Shay investigators allege, would then massage the victim’s forearms and work his way up his arms and neck.
As time went on, Shay moved the warmups from the piano bench to a couch, so the defendant could massage more parts of the victim’s body. At one point in the massage, the suspect would allegedly have the victim lie down and he would massage the victim’s chest and abdomen, eventually moving to areas of the body court records show.
The victim said during his final year or two of piano lessons, the defendant would lift the waistband of the victim’s pants, reach down his pants and massage the victim’s pubic area, just above the genitals. The victim said the inappropriate contact happened between 30 and 50 times.
The victim said he had one lesson a week that lasted 30 minutes, and the warmups took up 15 minutes of that time. The victim told police Shay told him to never tell anyone about the warmups.
Detectives spoke to a second victim from Langhorne, who also took piano lessons from Shay between 1998 and 2003 when the victim was a juvenile according to court records.
The victim said the Shay massaged him, claiming it would help with playing the piano. During the massage, Shay would pull up the victim’s elastic waistband and press his abdomen just above his genitals. The skin-to-skin contact happened between three and five times, authorities say.
A third victim told police he had Shy as a piano instructor in the late 1990s/early 2000s when the victim was prepubescent. The private lessons happened in Newtown Twp.
During the first few lessons, Shay would allegedly massage the victim’s back and during later lessons, and massaged other areas of the victim’s body, including his neck, abdomen and groin. At least 10 times, Shay had the victim lay on the piano bench and he massaged the victim’s groin over his clothing, according to court records.
A fourth victim reported being eight years old when he had the defendant as a piano instructor in Newtown Township. The victim told police the defendant would massage the victim’s inner and upper thighs, claiming it would help relieve tension in the area. During the massage, Shay would have the victim place his hands along his genitals to create a barrier, and the suspect would massage the victim’s groin area up to the barrier, authorities said.