(08/21/08 - Initial BBT Report)
Ting-Yi Oei, 59, an assistant principal at Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia has been indicted by a Loudoun County grand jury and charged with possession of child pornography.
The charges center on Oei’s possessing an “inappropriate” cellphone photo of a female student taken by another student. Oei allegedly came into possession of the photo in March of this year. It is alleged that Oei did not inform the child’s parents, law enforcement or child protective services of the photo.
When police became aware of the existence of the photo by way of notification by a third-party, Oei was charged with failure to report suspicion of child abuse or neglect, a misdemeanor violation of state law.
Upon filing of the misdemeanor charge Oei was placed on administrative leave by the school system. He returned to work when the misdemeanor charge was dropped.
On August 11th the grand jury indicted Oei on the felony charge which carries with it the possibility of a five year prison sentence.
Oei was arrested at the school yesterday as he and other school employees were preparing for the start of classes for the new school term.
Oei’s attorney says neither he nor Oei was informed of the charges until sheriff’s deputies showed up at the school yesterday. The DA’s office says that Oei’s attorney was notified of the indictment and asked to bring his client to court on August 12th and failed to do so.
Oei’s attorney, also called the charges “outrageous” and said his client was being “persecuted” by the commonwealth’s attorney.
References:
Assistant Principal Charged With Child Pornography (08/21/08)
Assistant Principal Charged With Child Pornography (08/21/08)
School official charged with possessing child pornography (08/20/08)
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November 11th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I remember hearing about this when it first happened earlier this year. No way was it being called “possession of child pornography.” I’m pretty sure it was more along the lines of “inappropriate picture.” I think that this girl just needs to step up and stop being so selfish. Mr. Oei was one of the nicest and most genuine administrators I’ve known, and I never felt uncomfortable around him. There is no way that he should be getting these ridiculous charges. He was only protecting this stupid girl who shouldn’t have even been taking pictures like that of herself in the first place. Five years in prison for this? No.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
From what I read about this case, the only thing this guy did wrong was not contact the authorities, not child porn as the DA suggests. This is one guy that sounds like he cares about the students and is willing to help them instead of hurt them. The system is set up to trash and convict teachers before they get a chance to defend themselves. I foresee charges being dropped or found not guilty, but he’s already been ruined.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Ting Yi is my uncle. I have known him every day for the last 33 years and there is no one better, more caring, or as considerate. He has dedicated his life to helping other people- by serving in the peace corps, teaching in improverished countries and a lifelong committment to educating our children.
Not only are the charges against him unjust and false, they serve only to perpetuate everything that is wrong with a system that instead of rewarding protective, thoughtful and experienced educators, allows them to be trashed by untruths, hype and misinformation. Get the facts out and you’ll see that these charges are driven by pure vendetta and false accusation. By hiding the facts, the media and authorities are responsible for devastating the reputation of one of our truest citizens.
Any wife or family member with a spouse in education lives with the fear of false accusations - that in trying to solve a problem and help a child, the educator puts himself or herself at risk for an accusation against him. This is not right. We need to protect our educators, who have put their life’s work in helping our kids often with little community and financial support, from people with nasty intentions whose false accusations can be irreparablely damage careers and lives.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Mr. Oei was the best vice- principal someone could ask for.
Honestly, I wish he was the principal. He was so nice and willing to listen the students side of every story, which is rare in administrators.
This is b.s. about him looking at child pornography. He was protecting an embarressed immature girl, who didn’t want her parents to find out about what she does. I don’t blame her, but I think that she needs to step up and say something. Seriously, she started this mess I think she needs to just come out and tell the truth about what happened. The girl I believe has only been at Freedom 2 years, so she really doesn’t know how great of a guy Mr. Oei was. He doesn’t deserve this at all. When I went to the school the first week in August and I saw Mr. Oei there, I can’t explain how excited I was to see him back to work. He knows what high schoolers go through on a day to day basis and you could relate to him. So, finding out that he could go to jail for 5 years for a stupid immature girls mistake (******) me off. This situation has gone way to far and I think the girl just needs to grow up because she hurt a lot of people by causing this mess.
This comment edited by site moderator.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:15 am
I’ve known Mr. Oei for close to 18 years. I know his family, I know his character and I would vouch for him any day at the cost of my respect and/or my job. This whole situation looks shady. I agree, parents should have been notifed IF the picture deemed so. For all we know the “inappropriate” picture could just be a girl in her undies or a swim suit…which after an authority figure (i.e. Mr. Oei) investigated found out it was a teen in her swim suit or something that wasn’t worth the trouble she would get in for the ACTUAL content of the photo, he dropped the situation…we just don’t know the facts and the Police and the Media want to keep it that way. They’re purposfully withholding the facts so that we (the OH SO CONCERNED public) hang this man before we even know what’s wrong. We’re not talking about a man with a bunch of kiddie-porn pictures on him. He’s got one picture that HE deemed not worthy of starting an uproar, that should have potentially been brought to the parents’ attentions. Main point, Cops/Media/Public LOVE it when we catch perverts so they trump up charges whenever they can. This guy has ONE picture and they charge him with failure to notify parents…okay…but they decide later that “Hey, we can get a WIN for the police if we screw him with porn charges” It BS, and unfair that the system is trying to look good so they’ve destroyed this man’s life.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:11 am
I’m a student at Freedom, and this is completely unfair. just because this (Deleted by site moderator), who I knew but did not respect because of this and many other incidents, sent a picture of herself naked to her boyfriend, who sent it forth from there. now this guy is getting ridiculous charged put on him. I didn’t know him personally, but never once did I hear complaints from other students about him.
This comment edited by site moderator in accordance with our policies as outlined in the “Comments” page.
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I don’t think Mr. Oei would be the kind of man to keep the said “pornography” and look at it. I think he was protecting this girl and the people who came into possesion with the picture. that girl is obviously insecure with herself and wants attention in wrong ways.. or she’s just a slut. Mr. Oei doesn’t deserve what he’s getting. That girl should be punished for acting slutty and sending it around to people’s cell phones.. That is so skanky. If she wants to be a skank she should do it on her own time, not at school. Mr. Oei was one of the nicest admins when i was there and i agree with anonymous, i NEVER once felt uncomfortable around him at school. He was such a nice person and he doesnt deserve any of this crap that they are accusing him of.. I think the cops shouldn’t embaress a person in such a way by coming and arresting him in front of his co-workers… jerks. and i think Judy is acting completely ridiculous.. Maybe your friends son was doing something wrong and your friend won’t admit it or doesnt know the real circumstances.. there are reasons for everything.