(12/20/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Ronald T. Garney, 60, a former earth science teacher at Amherst Regional High School, in Amherst, Massachusetts pleaded guilty today to 11 counts of possessing child pornography.

Garney was arrested in November, 2006 and indicted in January, 2007.

His arrest was the result of a federal investigation into a Web site purveying child pornography from around the world.

Garney had been free on $10,000 cash bail since shortly after his arrest. But after accepting Garney’s guilty plea, Judge Mary-Lou Rup revoked Garney’s bail and ordered him sent to jail pending the sentencing hearing.

2/11/08 - Sentencing

Today, Ronald T. Garney was sentenced to 2½ to 3 years in prison the result of his guilty plea to possessing child pornography.

In addition to the prison sentence Garney was also sentenced to 10 years probation, ordered that he undergo sex offender treatment, and is prohibited from having an unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

References:

High school teacher gets 2.5 to 3 years in child porn case (2/11/08)

Amherst Regional High teacher pleads guilty to child pornography possession (12/20/07)

Background:

High School Teacher Faces Child Pornography Charges (11/29/06)

Former Amherst teacher indicted (1/18/07)

(12/13/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Damon Johnson, 35, a former teacher at Sabis International Charter School in Springfield, Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old.

As a result of Johnson’s guilty plea he was sentenced to 2 and a half years in jail with 18 months to be served and the rest suspended with five years probation.

Reportedly Johnson taught the girl as a student and when the 2005-2006 academic year ended gave his telephone number to students saying he could be a math tutor. The girl called him, and a relationship began.

Johnson can have no contact with the girl and no unsupervised contact with any child under 16 years old. He must report to begin his sentence on December 26th.

References:

Former teacher admits rape (12/11/07)

Teacher pleads guilty in student sexual assault (12/10/07)

(9/15/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Severine Wamala, 46, a former math teacher at Lowell (Mass.) High School, has been found guilty of 11 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault on allegations that he repeatedly raped a 16-year-old female student in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Following the guilty verdicts, Wamala a native of Uganda, was held without bail pending a sentence hearing, which will be scheduled for sometime next month.

The case began with three women accusing Wamala of sexually abusing them years earlier during their time at Lowell High School. Two of the three recanted their allegations but the third, who was 16 at the time of the abuse, refused to back down and offered the proof which led the jury to convict on 11 of 12 charges Wamala faced.

The 16-year-old girl and both of the Lowell women told police last year Wamala assaulted them, and prosecutors argue someone persuaded the women to recant the allegations.

Wamala faces between 10 and 20 years on each count of which he was found guilty.

11/20/07 - Sentencing

Today, Severine Wamala speaking prior to sentencing attacked the victim one last time, saying she had always been a difficult child and was prone to lying. He also said he loves and forgives her. Wamala addressed the victim herself, saying “”You have fooled people. You know how to make yourself a victim, to appear as a victim.”

Judge Robert Lynn sentenced Wamala to 20-40 years in prison and ordered him to have no contact with the victim.

Wamala plans to appeal his conviction on 11 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, according to his lawyer public defender Anthony Sculimbrene.

References:

Wamala sentenced for repeated sexual assaults on girl (11/20/07)

Ex-teacher convicted in rape case (9/15/07)

Former Mass. high school teacher convicted of sexual assault charges (9/14/07)

Witness affirms rape testimony (9/13/07)

Math teacher’s rape trial opens (9/06/07)

Background:

Teacher Charged With Rape (9/13/06)

(11/10/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Jesse Beckley, 26, a fifth-grade special education teacher’s assistant at Mary E. Stapleton Elementary School in Farmingham , Massachusetts has been arrested for possessing and distributing child pornography via a file sharing network on the internet.

Beckley came to the attention of authorities when members of the Massachusetts Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched a peer-to-peer network in September for a known digital child pornography file. Such a file was located on a computer in Framingham and the trooper made a connection to that computer and looked at the list of other files that computer was offering to share. Allegedly that list contained multiple files that appeared to be child pornography.

When police served a warrant on Beckley on Thursday night it is alleged that he admitted that he had child pornography and officers allegedly discovered Beckley was in the midst of both downloading new child pornography to his computer and uploading more child pornography to the Peer-to-Peer network at the instant police arrived to serve the warrant.

Reportedly, Beckley has been charged with two counts each of the illegal possession of child pornography with the intent to disseminate, illegal possession of obscene matter with the intent to disseminate and illegal possession of visual material of a child depicted in sexual conduct. He has also been charged with one count each of dissemination of child pornography and dissemination of obscene matter.

Bond for Beckley was set at $5,000 with the conditions that he is under house arrest, wears a GPS ankle bracelet, has no contact with children younger than 16 and does not use a computer or access the internet.

On Friday administrators placed Beckley, who has been with the school for four years, on administrative leave. However it is being reported that Beckley resigned.

Beckley is set for a pre-trial conference on November 30th.

References:

Framingham teachers’ aide faces child porn charges (11/09/07)

Teacher’s aide faces child pornography charges (11/10/07)

Teacher’s aid accused of having child porn (11/09/07)

(8/03/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Kenneth Lang, 60, a former teacher at D. J. Bakie Elementary School, in Kingston, New Hampshire has been indicted on 13 counts of sexual assault alleged to have occurred between 1983 and 1986 in Hampton, New Hampsire.

In May of this year, Lang was indicted on 15 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault by a Rockingham County grand jury. Apparently the new indictment replaces that from May.

Lang, already faces three counts of rape of a child involving the same victim in Essex County Superior Court in Massachusetts with those alleged crimes being committed between July 1978 when the boy was 7-years-old and May 1987, when the boy was 16-years-old with the alleged offenses occurring in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

All charges in Massachusetts and New Hampshire allege the same victim, now 36-years-old.

Lang was friends with the boy’s family and allegedly began the assaults on or around July 1, 1978 by sneaking into the boy’s room and fondling him. The sexual abuse allegedly escalated from that point, continuing for years in both states as well as on trips to other locations during which the boy accompanied Lang.

The alleged victim told his parents of the abuse in September, 2006 saying he “felt robbed of his childhood,” and he “came forward because he didn’t want this to happen to other kids.” Reportedly he told his sister of the abuse years previously.

10/30/07 - Guilty Plea

Kenneth Lang has pleaded guilty to molesting a boy in Hampton, New Hampsire between 1983 and 1986.

As a result of his guilty plea, Lang will spend between 7.5 and 15 years in New Hampshire state prison.

Yesterday, Lang’s victim said, “My intention in coming forward was to keep Ken from hurting others.“.

He said he finally disclosed the years of abuse in 2006 because he learned that Lang was teaching music at D.J. Bakie Elementary School in Kingston, where he worked for 13 years.

Lang is facing similar charges for the sexual abuse of the same victim in Essex County Superior Court in Massachusetts where he is set for trial next month.

References:

Former music teacher pleads to sex assault (10/30/07)

Teacher indicted on 13 counts of sexual assault (8/03/07)

Background:

Former elementary school teacher faces sex charges (5/18/07)

Court papers say teacher raped boy, 7 (10/13/06)

Kingston teacher charged with child rape (9/15/06) (Via Google Archives)

Elementary School Music Teacher Arrested On Rape Charge (9/14/06)