Julie Amero, 40, of Windham, Connecticut and a former substitute seventh grade teacher at Kelly Middle School, in Norwich was looking at up to 40 years in prison.

She won a victory of sorts today when at her formal sentencing her conviction was tossed out.

At the sentencing hearing the defense made a motion for a new trial and prosecutors did not object. This owing to the fact that AFTER Amero’s trial was concluded and she was found guilty on four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child the state FINALLY sent the classroom computer at the center of the charges against Amero into a state lab for testing.

The computer was sent to a state laboratory after the trial, and the judge said Wednesday that those findings may contradict evidence presented by the state computer expert.

“The jury may have relied, at least in part, on that faulty information,” said Judge Hillary B. Strackbein, who granted the request for a new trial.

All along Amero who pleaded not guilty to the charges has denied clicking on pornographic Web sites that appeared on her classroom’s computer screen in October 2004 exposing seventh graders to hard-core porn.

Amero’s attorney commended prosecutors saying they acted responsibly in not opposing the motion for a new trial.

No date has been set for the new trial and there is a possibility there will be none owing to the new evidence and a groundswell of support from technology experts who believe spyware and adware programs might have generated the pop-up ads for pornographic Web sites.

07/21/08 - Charges Still Pending

Thirteen months after a judge threw out a jury’s verdict against former substitute teacher Julie Amero, supporters of the accused woman have turned up the heat on Connecticut prosecutors to drop all charges.

Opinion of the Webmaster

I was shocked and dismayed to read that prosecutors are still holding the possibility of another trial over the head of this poor woman, who has been through so much already.

Granted prosecutors do not like to admit that the prosecution of any individual was a mistake, but the weight of collected evidence proves to anyone with an open mind and a bit of common sense that Julie Amero is not only not guilty but in fact innocent beyond any doubt.

That this case demonstrates a gross miscarriage of justice in the extreme is without doubt and gives rise to consideration of the possibility of a malicious prosecution and the civil rights issues that entails.

It is well beyond time that prosecutors sucked up their guts, summoned up their courage and admit that they made a mistake and drop all charges against Julie Amero.

To do otherwise is an extreme insult to the very justice they claim to uphold.

Reference:

Prosecutors criticized in pop-up porn case (07/21/08)

New Trial Granted for Former Teacher Accused of Showing Students Pornography

Search Bad Bad Teacher For Other Posts About Julie Amero

06/04/08 - Initial BBT Report)

Cecelia Schneider, 54, a former math teacher at Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls, New Jersey has pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and endangering the welfare of a child.

Schneider, who was arrested in 2004, was indicted last year on allegations that she performed or simulated a sexual act on a 2-year-old boy in 2002 and sent images of the act to others via e-mail.

At the time of her arrest in August 2004 Schneider has been a math teacher at the school for 25 years.

After being suspended without pay following her arrest, she resigned from the school in November 2004.

Schneider faces the possibility of from five to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

Schneider will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

References:

Ex-teacher pleads guilty in porn case (06/04/08)

Ex-Math Teacher Admits To Distributing Child Porn (06/04/08)

Ex-math teacher admits distributing child pornography (06/04/008)

(10/25/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Jennifer Jacobi, 35, of Greenville, Indiana, a former substitute teacher for the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools has been sentenced to 76 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, on child-molesting charges and still faces sentencing on federal child pornography charges.

Jacobi did substitute teaching at Galena and Mt. Tabor elementary schools, Highland Hills Middle School and New Albany High School.

In pleading guilty to counts of child molesting and conspiracy to commit child molesting Jacobi admitted that she molested a girl twice during a two-year period starting in 2004, when the victim was 8-years-old.

As a result of the plea deal 13 counts of child exploitation were dismissed.

In addition to molesting the child, Jacobi also made arrangements by computer for Richard D. Prado, of Brownville, Maine, to molest the girl. Prado killed himself while in a Maine jail as he was being investigated there.

The 10 federal counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography involved children under age 12.

Jacobi has a plea deal with federal prosecutors under which she will plead guilty to two counts of producing child pornography and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle Helart will recommend a 35-year prison term that would run concurrent with Jacobi’s state sentence. The federal plea deal must receive a judge’s approval before taking effect.

11/10/07 - Guilty Plea Accepted

U.S. District Judge John D. Tinder accepted Jacobi’s guilty plea in court Thursday and set a sentencing date for December 20. According to Jacobi’s attorney if the judge accepts the 35 year concurrent sentence contained in the plea deal it will give Jacobi the possibility of getting out of prison before she dies.

12/26/07 - Sentencing

On December 20th U.S. District Judge John Daniel Tinder accepted the plea deal arrangement regarding sentencing and formally sentenced Jacobi to 35 years in the federal prison. With “good time”, Jacobi might be eligible for parole in 30 years.

References:

Jacobi sentenced to 35 years on child pornography charges (12/26/07)

Former NA-FC sub pleads guilty to federal charges (11/10/07)

Indiana woman says she was manipulated into molesting family members (10/26/07)

Former NA-FC substitute teacher sentenced for molesting (10/24/07)

Ind. woman sentenced in child molesting (10/24/07)

Woman sentences to 66 years for child molesting (10/24/07)

Background:

Substitute teacher arrested on child porn charges (3/10/06)

Press Release on Federal Indictment (8/08/07)

Julie Amero, 40, of Windham, Connecticut and a former substitute seventh grade teacher at Kelly Middle School, in Norwich is set for sentencing on June 6th. Amero faces up to forty years in prison for her convictions on four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child.

Amero was convicted in January of this year on allegations several of her 12-year-old students saw images of naked men and women engaging in sex on her classroom computer on October 19, 2004. Amero has maintained all along that the pornography was the result of pop-up advertisements that hijacked her computer and left her helpless. She said she even tried to block the computer’s monitor screen from the children’s view.

Previously Amero had been offered a plea deal that would have left her record clean and not involved any risk of prison time.

Amero has maintained her innocence and claim of being the victim of pop-up ads and lost her case at trial when the court denied the defense the option of demonstrating how Amero was ‘victimized’ by a severely outdated and unmaintained computer which had no firewall or anti-spyware software and which was infected with spyware.

The prosecution admitted that it’s “so called expert” who has little if any formal information technology training and who simply used an “after the fact audit program” to find the pornography on the computer did not examine the computer for spyware. This past March, a $2,400 advertisement appeared in the Hartford Courant signed by 28 computer science professors who said that they think that Amero could not have controlled the pornographic pop-ups.

Since Amero’s conviction, the case has come under scrutiny from a group of computer experts determined to prove the pop-ups were out of Amero’s control. Represented by attorney John Cocheo, Amero has also enlisted the help of an additional attorney, William Dow III, who is expected to file an appeal in the case. She also is accepting donations in a defense fund through an Internet site apparently run by her husband.

Reference:

Amero facing 40-year sentence Wednesday

Background:

Wikipedia article on Julie Amero (extensive list of reference links, background info and additional info).

Janet Susan Parker, 26, a former teacher in Center,Texas has been charged with nearly two dozen sex crimes involving a juvenile.

Parker faces nine counts of sexual performance by a child, three counts of sexual assault of a child and 11 counts of possession of child pornography after authorities re-opened an earlier investigation of Parker’s relationship with the student. The majority of the charges are the result of a search warrant which permitted authorities to examine the hard drives of two computers from Parker’s home.

Parker came to the attention of authorities again school officials discovered photographs of the woman, partially-nude and draped in a rebel flag, on the student’s cell phone.

Parker’s relationship with the student was investigated in December, however authorities lacked sufficient proof to act. With the newly discovered evidence from the student’s cell phone and Parker’s computers the case was made.

Months later, a cell phone which had belonged to the student suspected of having a relationship with Parker, was taken up in school. Because of that suspected relationship, one of the school staff scrolled through photos saved on the cell phone, according to a statement by an investigator with the Shelby County District Attorney’s office, made in the affidavit.

Among the photos was one of a partially-nude woman lying on a bed, nude from the waist up, covered by a rebel flag. The woman was identified as Parker by her former husband, according to an affidavit.

During a search of the student’s cell phone, Parker’s home and cell phone numbers were listed as “Baby” and “Baby’s Cell,” the affidavit said.

The investigator said in the affidavit that Parker’s ex-husband said he had seen the student at Parker’s home several times, some times doing yard work.

Parker turned herself into the Shelby County, Texas sheriff’s office earlier today.

Update 6/20/07:

Yesterday Parker was indicted on a total of 23 charges alleging sexual performance by a child, sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography. Prosecutors identified the alleged victim as a 14-year-old boy.

References:

Grand Jury Indicts former Teacher (6/20/07) scroll down the page for report

Former Center teacher accused of sex with student

Former Center teacher arrested on 23 charges including sexual assault of child

East Texas teacher accused of having affair with student