Substitute Teacher Finds Porn on Classroom Computer, Can’t Get Rid of It. Railroaded by DA into 40-year Prison Sentence!!

Published on January 22nd, 2007

Posted by John C Dvorak in General

Norwich Bulletin – www.norwichbulletin.com – Norwich, Conn. — This story is unbelievable and has gotten zero national media attention. This should give substitute teachers pause for thought.

In response to your editorial “Reason needed in teacher porn case sentencing,” I can only say I am shocked and dismayed at what is such a clear miscarriage of justice.

There is no question in my mind, and those of many other experts in the computing community, Julie Amero is innocent of the charges, and should not be imprisoned for one day, much less 40 years.

When I first read of the case, my reaction was how illogical it all sounded: A middle-aged, substitute female teacher accessing porn on a classroom computer, in front of her students on one particular day? It made no sense.

Then I read on to find out the forensic examination of the computer clearly showed this machine was an old, poorly maintained system, riddled with spyware, without adequate protections in place, and it all became clear. Amero is the victim, not the perpetrator.

Piecing together the evidence, we can get an idea as of what happened that day…(read article0

related link:
original report

The heartless State Attorney asked the question as to why she didn’t pull the plug on the computer during a porn storm. I would have testified that most people unfamiliar with computers would worry that this action would damage the machine or they would assume that the problem would continue when the machine was turned back on and they’d get in trouble later.

52 users responded in " Substitute Teacher Finds Porn on Classroom Computer, Can’t Get Rid of It. Railroaded by DA into 40-year Prison Sentence!! "

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# 1 Mark said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:17 pm

40 years! You really have to wonder what this imbecile is thinking.

# 2 Smartalix said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:28 pm

Our justice system is in such terrible shape it’s scary. Any one of us can get thrown into the oubliette on purely unlucky circumstances, and with the current “guilty until proven innocent” climate of late you have almost zero chance of getting clear. We have almost 6 million people in prison (and don’t seem to be too picky about who we put there).

# 3 Canadian said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm

Oh wow, this is one of the most stupid things I have ever heard. How long do you think she will get? Any? 40?

# 4 Jägermeister said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:33 pm

It’s nuts. Just mistyping google.com could land you into a heap of trouble. The google.com with one o and two g’s looks different today, but I’m sure they’re still up to no good.

# 5 Sundog said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:37 pm

They oughta drag Bill Gates ass in to court as an expert witness.

# 6 MouthAgog said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 3:44 pm

What the hell is wrong with your country? Is that how a state official buys influence–sending teachers down for being computer illiterate?

# 7 sirgallihad said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:09 pm

christ, who defends these people? Lionel Hutz?

# 8 Kim Helliwell said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:13 pm

I’d like to say she must have had a dumb defense attorney. And the judge must have been dumb, also.

Let’s hope she can get this reversed on appeal…

# 9 doug said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm

my guess is that the prosecutor is stupid (maybe he actually believes she had to click those porn links) and overzealous (”won’t someone PLEASE think of the children!?!?”). My guess is that the prosecutor denigrated the defense expert as being a liar for hire. that’s typical.

hopefully, Conn. does not have those get-tough-on-crime mandatory minimum sentences that will have a middle-aged teacher locked up for a decade or so.

# 10 gquaglia said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Is Nifong their prosecutor too. Over zelous prosecutors are dangerous people.

# 11 jbellies said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:34 pm

There’s your answer. What should be the next target for the War on Terror? Norwich, Connecticut. Oops, wrong thread. If it is not fiction, it is stranger than fiction.

# 12 OhForTheLoveOf said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 4:57 pm

There is a species of box turtle in Madagascar that is illegal to import without the proper paperwork. A friend of mine who deals in exotic pets bought two of these turtles, and it seems made some errors on the paperwork and was arrested by park rangers.

Park rangers are federal employees and the so-called crime he committed carried a mandatory minimum sentence of one year. Because the federal prosecutor, it seems, needed more checks in the win column, they chose to push for a conviction rather than clear up the mistake.

My friend spent his year in a federal prison, and can no longer vote, and now has to say yes to the “are you a felon” question on job apps…

…but that’s okay… Because at least now there will be no dangerous box turtle owners working menial jobs. We can all sleep safer at night.

Reason #6357 on the “Why I Am A Liberal” list.

# 13 TJGeezer said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 5:05 pm

It always amazes me how many people believe the average prosecutor is interested in justice. Most of them just want convictions so they can run for congress.

A dedication to justice has no upside for prosecutors. It’s worse if they’re federal prosecutors – get too interested in justice and Bush will fire them. (See the NY Times Krugman piece reprinted by TruthOut at http://tinyurl.com/2c3gpm for specifics.)

# 14 Trimble Epic said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm

Absolutely Unacceptable.

How the @#$% does this happen?

It should be a CRIME for prosecutors to destroy peoples lives in such an OBVIOUS misunderstanding.

# 15 ECA said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm

This is so laughable, its redicoulous..

I dont care what protection you have…SOMETHING will get on the computer you DONT want.
Is this teacher a MS certified tech??
Is this teacher an computer user BEYOND just teaching??
Can the school system afford someone that has the knowledge of a FULL ‘IT’ and service tech?? If not, they have NO reason to consider the teacher, as a TECH.

# 16 Lauren the Ghoti said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 5:51 pm

#13 -
“It always amazes me how many people believe the average prosecutor is interested in justice. Most of them just want convictions so they can run for congress.”

Not exactly, but close, TJG.

Around these parts (Houston), the DA’s Office is has traditionally been a stepping stone to ludrative private criminal practice. And the better positions go to the amoral, unethical filth who win the most convictions.

NOT the most convictions of guilty defendants – they simply prosecute EVERYONE who comes before them, guilty or not – so they can make more money. True scum-sucking sacks of shit in the mold of Nifong.

And don’t get me started on our DA, Chuck Rosenthal, a mouth-breathing asshat who makes Dubya look like Richard Dawkins!

BTW, Harris County, Texas, the 4th largest metorpolitan area in America, has not one single Democratic state judge. Not one. Owned and operated by the Republican Party of Texas.

Oughta tell ya something.

# 17 tallwookie said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 6:13 pm

WOOT!! Guilty as Charged!! That’ll teach people to try and teach kids when they dont have a degree. ROFL!!

SNAP!!!

# 18 ChrisMac said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm

No surprises here..

The world has had front row seats to watch your democracy crumble since the advent of the internet..

Time for “We the People” to take back control sooner than later I hope

# 19 Greg Allen said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 7:50 pm

When I was in high school, one of the teachers used to show movies as a fund raiser during lunch. This was before video and it was a fun novelty.

Wouldn’t you know it!

While we were watching a lousy B-movie sci-fi, the teacher went out for a smoke the movie turned porno! Not hardcore but there were boobs, butts and an orgy.

I’m not sure anyone went and told the teacher — even we in the Teens for Christ club! I don’t think we were damaged, nor was the teacher punished for an honest mistake.

# 20 booya said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 8:58 pm

Put the DA in prison.

# 21 rance bleester said, on January 22nd, 2007 at 10:42 pm

This so-called crime, and it’s punishment, is absurd regardless of who “did it”.
If some teacher clicked a porn site on purpose, what would be a reasonable penalty?
A warning, to start, you might think.
Such extreme punishment as described here falls well in the bounds
of “cruel and unusual”, not to mention just damn stupid.
The point is, the reality of this country has become nearly the antithesis of the myths we are fed.
This kind of sadistic prosecutorial behavior has become the norm.
We don’t hear about most of them, but the Duke lacrosse players
travesty is a well known – and well documented – example.
And don’t forget, even if she “gets off”, it’ll cost her a fortune and she’ll be smeared for life .
That’s her best outcome!

# 22 B. Dog said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 7:14 am

Life, 40 years, classroom, pig farm, it’s the same, but somehow different.

# 23 James Hill said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 7:50 am

…and the DA is still alive?

Yes, I’m being serious.

# 24 Ascii King said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 8:50 am

Hey, Greg Allen #19, I bet the movie you were watching was Logan’s Run. I was recently caught off guard by the inexplicable porn scene in the middle of the movie.

# 25 Pfkad said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 8:50 am

And of course this poor woman will be added to the sex offenders list for the rest of her life. She may even finagle her way out of the 40 year sentence but still wind up on the offenders list. Ridiculous.

# 26 Yeah I Said It said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 am

Where the hell is the school district in all this? Why isn’t the district’s IT department in the fire? They are negligent in putting an unprotected system in a classroom. The teacher can’t be held responsible for this. Her duty is to teach the kids, not maintain the computer.

The legal system and the school system are both FUBAR!

# 27 OhForTheLoveOf said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 1:26 pm

#26

Yes… It’s the ITs responsibility… But this is way beyond that issue…

Some kids saw some tits and we gotta lock up some poor substitute teacher for 40 years?

Jesus H Freaking Christ on a pogo stick… If I hold up a liquer store AND kill the clerk, I’m only going down for 8 or 10 years…

This is a tragic miscarriage of justice and an example of real corruption.

Also, just because is irrates the right wingers who lurk and troll around here, and not because it is true, I’d like to point out the real responsibility for this belongs to George Bush. If he were not in office, this never would have happened.

# 28 Frank Krasicki said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm

Stop complaining and help.

I’m blogging at http://region19.blogspot.com

The circumstances of this case make it a mistrial. How do we make that happen? The judge seems duplicitous so that’s not an option.

Ideas or pro bono law experts invited to respond.

# 29 jbellies said, on January 23rd, 2007 at 10:36 pm

Call in the feds! Racketeering? If the DA simply wanted convictions, he could
have taken down various school and school board officials rather than a bystander. There’s an unusual fish under the wrapper.
You’d see justice done if all school teachers in the country refused to allow a computer to be turned on (all power cords locked in a vault) until the miscarriage is corrected. If the decision stands, then
any teacher has unacceptable exposure to personal damage simply by allowing a computer to be turned on. This is
nothing more than enlightened self-interest on the part of the teachers. I’m not suggesting long investigations, but next morning, January 24th 2007, at 8:30 am.

# 30 Lauren the Ghoti said, on January 24th, 2007 at 4:03 am

Don’t develop tunnel vision focusing on this single incident. The issue, which apparently will have to reach pandemic levels before the gen pop notices, is out of control prosecutors with virtually zero accountability blatantly violating their oaths of office and the Constitution.

Gerald Amitault and his family, the Duke lacrosse teams and now this – these aren’t isolated incidents, this wholesale abridgement of the Constitution is happening everywhere in America, every single day.

And I’m here to tell ya, I have learned this firsthand, at incalculable personal expense and pain, the aftereffects of which will continue to the day I’m put in the ground.

Every time I see some do-gooder limousine liberal bring up the flaws of the criminal justice industry, it’s invariably to demand “justice” for some totally reprehensible, murderous resignee from the human race. When’s the last time you heard the Barbra Streisands, the Ed Asners, the Mike Farells, the Susan Sarandons use their public pulpits to raise awareness of the tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans who get this sort of treatment?

Answer: never. They’re too fucking busy busting their gullible asses to help some foul destroyer of life avoid their just deserts, like “Tookie” or “Mumia.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that…”

# 31 clk said, on January 29th, 2007 at 5:49 am

Is there a detectable trend here? Sutton in TX, Nifong in SC, and Smith in CT. One wonders how many more are on the loose. Lets work up a roll call of these lunatics and expose them for what they really are. Lazy, merciless tyrants who are lathering their own egos with the time, treasure and tears of the innocent.

# 32 Kevin Lee said, on February 7th, 2007 at 8:33 am

I thought it was some kind of joke.

# 33 G said, on February 7th, 2007 at 10:47 am

“Also, just because is irrates the right wingers who lurk and troll around here, and not because it is true, I’d like to point out the real responsibility for this belongs to George Bush. If he were not in office, this never would have happened.”

Blame it on Bush? You’re a nitwit.

# 34 Tony Cook said, on February 7th, 2007 at 12:41 pm

Thank the Lord I’m English, our legal system may creak but the American version is an absolute joke world wide.

OTH why did not the two Amercan jughead lunatics who shot up a British troop convoy causing the death of one trooper and serious injury to a number of others get away scot free, one of the gung ho idiots has actually been promoted and is now busily training others in how to kill more allied troops.

Lets face it America – you are just plain uncivilised, uncouth and unfit for human consumption.

# 35 amclint said, on February 7th, 2007 at 1:56 pm

Tony Cook, if we start making sweeping generalizations based on individuals in your populace how many do you think we could come up with? Your comment is proof that you yourself are lacking in intelligence and class.

# 36 Gary Norton said, on February 7th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

If the computer has not been cleaned yet, simply put the principal, IT Director, BoE members, procecutor, and judge in a room with some kids and no way to block the screen (a set up just like the teacher had).

When the porn storm hits, every one of them should be charged and AUTOMATICALLY convicted AND sentenced to 40 years (or whatever the substitute teacher receives).

And, of course, no expert testimony would be allowed, based on the precedent that they set of “no experts allowed”. Now, that would be justice.

# 37 John Kristofferson said, on February 8th, 2007 at 8:56 pm

Re: Lauren the Ghoti “

Um,…except , uh, for this case.
If this is your issue, don’t you think you picked exactly the wrong thread in which to bring it up?
Limousine liberals aside, this sort of prosecutorial ugliness is almost always done to pander to the reactionary right-wing sector of the population. In any case, it is far preferable that a few guilty people go free if it helps to protect a larger nunber of innocent defendants from wrongful conviction.

# 38 Lois Croft said, on February 8th, 2007 at 9:46 pm

If the material that popped up showed someone getting hacked to death with a chain saw, this whole event would be a non-issue. Similarly, if she were a Catholic priest molesting young boys or a congressman trolling for pages, she wouldn’t get anywhere near 40 years. But since it involved pornography and kids, it’s a different story entirely. This despite the fact that the teacher tried her best to fix the problem (she had no intent to commit a crime, no motive, and certainly nothing to gain). To call this a travesty of justice doesn’t begin to even scratch the surface. Lawyers are scum, and judges are ex-lawyers. All I can say is:

Be afraid America. Be very afraid.

# 39 Michael Spurlock said, on February 9th, 2007 at 6:44 am

A. It’s Connecticut, people!
B. The DA…he’s a LAWYER. Don’t expect compassion.
C. He’s a LIBERAL. Don’t expect reason or logic.
D. He’s a wealthy bureaucrat. Don’t expect computer literacy.
E. How’s he gonna become governor if he doesn’t ruin innocent peoples’ lives?

# 40 Bob said, on February 9th, 2007 at 9:47 am

Post the D.A.’s name. And remind anyone you care about not to move to that state!

# 41 Jim Vanderwoude said, on February 9th, 2007 at 9:51 am

This teacher would have received a lesser sentence, if any at all, if she had been caught having sex with a student in the classroom.

# 42 John Millard said, on February 10th, 2007 at 5:33 am

The only way to interact with justice in the United States of America (almost communist united states of america) is NOT become involved with the justice system, none of it. Don’t stare at law enforcement soldiers(criminal, above law group of uniformed thugs), hope that if you do ever get stopped by a LEO, that they graduated at the top of their class in the Sally Struthers University (ITT). I could go on but by now I am sure the government has already seen this post. The quality of law enforment and those who pass the judgments is really no better than those the laws are designed to punish. If the guy would have had sex with one of the students, he could have gotten off with probation.

# 43 Rich Steebe said, on February 10th, 2007 at 5:33 am

The only way to interact with justice in the United States of America (almost communist united states of america) is NOT become involved with the justice system, none of it. Don’t stare at law enforcement soldiers(criminal, above law group of uniformed thugs), hope that if you do ever get stopped by a LEO, that they graduated at the top of their class in the Sally Struthers University (ITT). I could go on but by now I am sure the government has already seen this post. The quality of law enforment and those who pass the judgments is really no better than those the laws are designed to punish. If the guy would have had sex with one of the students, he could have gotten off with probation.

# 44 Rich Steebe said, on February 10th, 2007 at 5:40 am

The state of the justice system should be exampled by the DA in North Carolina whose recent motivation was politics at the assumed expense of wealthy parents of Duke Lacrosse players. Porn is a ripe for the picking subject to get your name in print and make a name for yourself, good and bad.

# 45 LaughingCanadian said, on February 10th, 2007 at 4:09 pm

Its this type of ignorance that is simply destroying the great country of the USA. 40 years ago you led the world, but your dreadfully funded public school system has led to a country divided by the elite and the illiterate. In too many areas ignorance is dominant. Some areas, such as Norwich, are being run by people who are obviously so unaware of reality that they are returning to the witch hunts of old. Such witch hunts are a sign that the public is abandoning reason – that they are relying upon superstition, scapegoating, and fear. Its a sign of the times – your country is in trouble…and its not the illegal immigrants you need to worry about!

# 46 Ed said, on February 20th, 2007 at 7:53 pm

I don’t know what its going to take to get through to people that America is really nothing more than a (VERY) thinly veiled POLICE STATE. This prosecutor should be incarcerated and the jurors appear to have made up of people that all have fallen out of the DUMB TREE and managed to HIT EVERY SINGLE BRANCH ON THE WAY DOWN. It’s obvious that not only do they appear CLUELESS about computer technology, they haven’t a clue about one of the most powerful tools in this country and ONE OF THE FEW WE HAVE LEFT TO DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST THIS TYPE OF TYRANNY: JURY NULLIFICATION. Study up people, you may be the ONLY person capable of stopping some of this lawless B.S. and you could do it WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT. AGAIN, THAT’S JURY NULLIFICATION. Use the Scroogle.org search choice but hurry up, soon it’ll be illegal (NOT UNLAWFUL MIND YOU) to link. The jurors in this case are flat out PATHETIC. They should be COMPLETELY ASHAMED of themselves. Because of IDIOTS like these, we have prisons FILLED with people who’ve NEVER COMMITTED A CRIME IN THEIR LIVES. We need to do whatever we can for this woman.

# 47 freddyzdead said, on March 5th, 2007 at 3:05 am

As an expatriate american living in australia for quite a few years, it is this sort of thing that reminds me why I still live here.

Anyone who has had this pop-up storm situation happen to them knows that you are tricked into clicking on the “close” button, but that only results in the generation of still more pop-ups. They appear much too rapidly for any chance of success in closing them. This woman was totally innocent.

I like the idea of a nationwide boycott by teachers of classroom computers until the matter is resolved. I bet it would only take a couple of days.

The other comment about ruling out any involvement by the students has much merit, too.

# 48 bigmike said, on March 7th, 2007 at 8:59 am

Hey,

What is it with girls fighting?

BigMike

gross-videos.com

# 49 Virtual said, on April 1st, 2007 at 12:14 pm

Alas, there is only one way to not get in such troubles –
to not live in USA…

# 50 Alex M said, on August 14th, 2007 at 9:49 am

In this day and age I would assume everybody (teachers included) should have at least a minimal working knowledge of computers. Regarding the sentence it is a shame on US law system. The quality of law enforment and those who pass the judgments is really no better than those the laws are designed to punish.

# 51 matt said, on October 11th, 2007 at 10:09 am

that’s weird.. i don’t believe it how the judge blame on her like this:(

# 52 Necro said, on January 20th, 2008 at 10:57 pm

Pathetic…just pathetic. At first when I read Dvorak’s “Computer literacy standard” column article on PCMag.com, I felt a bit of laughs, as well as a bit of thoughts going through my head, most of them a bit of a joke themselves. “That’ll kill us in the tech support industry, though it’ll also eliminate the Indian Tech support people.” “”Yes, but that still won’t teach my mother what she needs to know; shes out of school!” “Yes, it’ll be standard, but how many people won’t just skip it and rely on us tech nerds to take care of it?” Then I read this. 40 years? Really, we’re giving a teacher 40 years in prison for popups? ANYONE who uses Windows knows them; how could the state attorney still persecute her in a case like this? We all have popup blockers(Especially government workers,) so the state attorney should’ve known about the annoyance of popups. ><

And 40 years for one child seeing a little porn? This is a sad, sad abuse of justice. -_-

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