Intellectual Property Law

School Pays Educator Falsely Charged In ?Sexting? Probe

By Kim Zetter

Ting-Yi Oei and his wife, Diane Curling
Courtesy Ting-Yi Oei

An assistant principal whose life was put through the wringer after prosecutors falsely charged him with possession of child pornography will have his legal expenses reimbursed.

The Loudon County School Board voted 7-1 this week to reimburse Ting-Yi Oei about $167,000 for the legal expenses he incurred to fight the charges, according to the Washington Post.

Oei, an assistant principal at Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia, was charged last year over a photo he obtained in the course of investigating a sexting issue at his school.

In March 2008, Oei’s principal tasked him with investigating rumors that some students at the school were exchanging sexually explicit photos of a teenage girl. When confronted by Oei, a male student admitted he had one photo. After the principal instructed him to retain a copy of the photo for the investigation, Oei had the student e-mail the image to his cell phone, as well as transfer it to Oei’s desktop computer.

The image depicted only the torso of a young women clad in underwear with her arms draped over her breasts. Prosecutors deemed it child pornography and threatened Oei with criminal charges unless he resigned. When he refused, they charged him last August with felony possession of child porn as well as with two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for instructing the male student to send him the photo.

In March a judge threw out the charges, saying the image did not qualify as child pornography.

Oei returned to his job at the school in April. The Parent Teacher Student Association organized a welcome-back breakfast for him and the school honors society decorated his office door and desk with notes of support and Christmas lights, according to Oei’s wife, Diane Curling.

“Things with staff and kids are great,” she told Threat Level.

The county school board had the option of reimbursing him for only part of his legal expenses but decided to cover the full amount.

“He was acting in his official capacity, and the judge tossed the case out on its ear,” board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. said at the meeting, according to the Post. “Some of [his] reputation is going to be very, very difficult to get back. . . .  At least we can make him whole again.”

Oei told Leesburg Today that he thought the board’s decision was “right and proper” and “beyond my expectations.”

See also

• Sexting Hysteria Falsely Brands Educator as Child Pornographer
• Judge Temporarily Bars Prosecutor from Charging Teens for Child Porn Pics
• ACLU Sues Prosecutor Over ‘Sexting’ Child Porn Charges
• Child Porn Laws Used Against Kids Who Photograph Themselves

Full post as published by Threat Level on June 25, 2009 (boomark / email).