February 4, 2005

Campbell teacher pleads not guilty to misdemeanor child pornography charge

Christopher Casey’s pre-trial conference set for Feb. 28

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

A Castlemont Elemen-tary School teacher has pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
Christopher Casey, 44, was arraigned Jan. 31 on a misdemeanor child pornography charge. He entered his plea at the Hall of Justice Courthouse in downtown San Jose.

Casey, who has taught in the Campbell Union School District (CUSD) for 15 years, surrendered to the San Jose Police Department Dec. 15, after children reported seeing inappropriate images on his classroom computer. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for possession of child pornography.

Casey lives in San Jose, has no prior criminal record and his wife teaches at Monroe Middle School, also in the district.

Feb. 28 court date
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein, who filed the charges against Casey, said a pre-trial conference on the case is scheduled for Feb. 28 at the Hall of Justice courthouse, Department (room) 51, 190-200 West Hedding St., in San Jose.

During that court appearance, Casey’s attorneys, county prosecutors and a judge will discuss the case to either go to trial or settle it by Casey pleading guilty, Fein explained.

If Casey admits wrongdoing or is found guilty he could serve up to a year in jail, the maximum possible sentence. He would also have to register as a sex offender.

“Our investigation turned up child pornography, and we charged him based on the evidence we found. You’re either guilty or you’re not, there’s no in between,” Fein said. “We charged him because there was sufficient evidence to believe he possessed child pornography.”

Fein said in similar cases, punishment for the crime is based on how many pornographic pictures are found in possession of the suspect, how hard-core the pictures are, whether the suspect has a prior criminal record and other circumstances.

Punishment
“There isn’t a set number. They can get up to a year in jail. It’s all different. It all depends on the circumstances.

If somebody has thousands and thousands of pictures and they’re hard-core and they have record, that person could get a year. If somebody doesn’t have a record and it’s just one or two pictures, that person could get a shorter period of time. That’s one of the things that we’ll have to discuss. If he were to plead guilty, we need to discuss how much time (in jail) he should get.” Fein said.

Attorneys Steve Clark and Christopher Schaumb are representing Casey. Schaumb declined comment on the case.

On Jan. 6 the five-member CUSD’s governing board of trustees voted unanimously to place the third-grade math teacher on a compulsory leave of absence.

CUSD spokeswoman Marla Olszewski said the district couldn’t comment on confidential personnel matters. “From the district’s standpoint, this action will stand until we get notification that it should change,” she said.

A substitute teacher had been teaching Casey’s former class since just before the December winter break. Last week the district assigned teacher Leah Neary to fill the position at Castlemont Elementary School.

“The children are doing great,” Olszewski said of the Castlemont student body. “There’s a good community there. They’re really focused on the children.”

Dec. 17 meeting
More than 300 parents gathered the evening of Dec. 17 in the school auditorium after learning that Casey had been booked into jail, was charged with the crime and later released on a $5,000 bail.

CUSD Superintendent Johanna VanderMolen answered questions from worried parents and community leaders alarmed by the allegations against Casey, a highly regarded math instructor who had taught at the school for 10 years.

On Dec. 14, at around noon, San Jose Police Department officers responded to the school on several reports from students of inappropriate photos seen on Casey’s district-owned computer.

According to police, one of Casey’s students observed pictures of a young female partially undressed on his computer. The student reported the incident to a parent who notified school administrators.

Castlemont Elementary School Principal Barbara Anderson notified Dr. Maurice Ghysels, deputy superintendent of the CUSD, who notified police.

“We immediately jumped in and started our own investigation,” VanderMolen told the parents at the meeting. “We looked at his computer and when we found items related to child eroticism we immediately reported it to child protective services. At the same moment we contacted the police department.”

San Jose Police Department detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force/Child Exploitation Unit began an investigation.

On Dec. 15, at 7 a .m., officers in plain clothes and in unmarked police cars served a search warrant at his residence and confiscated two computers.

Another computer, allegedly used by Casey, was taken from a relative’s home. The school computer was also confiscated and photos of partially dressed young females and child pornography were located on it. Detectives also found a folder containing child pornography in Casey’s classroom, police said.

Letter to parents
On Dec. 16, the children carried home a letter to their parents and guardians. VanderMolen’s letter, in English and Spanish, stated that “this is a very serious and upsetting allegation, and we’re cooperating fully with the detectives working the case.

“Our foremost concern is for the welfare of our students. We take matters of student safety very seriously,” according to the letter.

District officials, criticized for sending the letter home with the students, justified their actions saying they wanted parents to find out the news from them and not from the media, which covered the incident thoroughly the following day. VanderMolen said district officials also thought about contacting parents through the school telephone messenger system, but realized it wouldn’t be as effective as the letter.

Counselors and psychologists have been helping students deal with the news, particularly to assist Casey’s students.