Case of School Teacher with Pop-up Porn Resolved

Almost two years ago, I posted about the case of Julie Amero, the school teacher who had some pornography pop-up on her computer during class. TChris at TalkLeft recently posted about the resolution of the case:

You may remember the case of Julie Amero, the teacher who allegedly exposed her seventh grade students to p*rn*graphy on a classroom PC. Amero's defense (not ably presented at her trial) was that she accessed no p*rn and that the computer was infected with malware that caused the p*rn sites to pop up faster than she could close them. Amero was nonetheless convicted of impairing the morals of a child and risking injury to a minor.

Before she was sentenced, with the assistance of a new lawyer and a host of new evidence, Amero persuaded the judge to give her a new trial. The case has been languishing for some time. Last week, because she "wasn't in condition to endure another trial," Amero entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and agreed to give up her teaching license. She was fined $100.

Amero's decision to put an end to her ordeal is understandable but unfortunate given the evidence of her innocence....

The prosecution apparently refused to give up this dog of a case because of its newly minted argument: even if Amero didn't access the porn, she should have turned off the computer once she realized she couldn't control it. Maybe, but imposing criminal liability on a relatively computer-illiterate teacher because she didn't think quickly enough is reprehensible.

The result is a ruined life because the school system couldn't manage its IT competently and because prosecutors couldn't bring themselves to admit they made a mistake.

Like TChris, I'm unsatisfied with the outcome. It really makes little sense that the prosecution kept pushing this case. And to have a guilty plea of disorderly conduct and a $100 fine illustrates the absurdity to the matter. And, I wonder if a non-categorical approach to defining what is a sex offense under SORNA catches on in federal courts, will Amero be required to register as a sex offender?

Comments

[Mheald]

This is outrageous. We have some teachers getting a slap on the wrist for statutorily raping children, and this woman had to go through all of this over an accident that wasn't even her fault? Ludicrous.