Saturday 26 March 2011

Wyoming teacher faces child porn charges

A Newcastle High School science teacher and speech coach charged with receiving child pornography over the Internet is expected to be named in a federal grand jury indictment slated to be handed down within the next week.

Joseph “Jay” Whitney, 52, was arrested at his home in Newcastle a couple of weeks ago by members of the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children task force, a state-federal partnership.

After his arrest, Whitney appeared before U.S. Magistrate Scott Skavdahl in Cheyenne.

Skavdahl ordered Whitney held without bond because he could not assure the safety of the community and because Whitney had five children living in his home, according to federal court documents.

Whitney faces total penalties of five to 30 years in prison, five years to life on supervised probation and a $500,000 fine if convicted on both counts of receipt and possession of child pornography.

The offenses occurred on Jan. 9 and Feb. 28, according to the complaint filed March 1 in federal court.

Whitney has been held in detention at Scottsbluff, Neb., since his arrest, Federal Public Defender Jim Barrett said Tuesday.

Barrett said he will ask the court to revisit the matter of bond for Whitney after the federal grand jury issues its indictments.

“We had to put a plan together,” he said.

The “suitable plan of release” that Skavdahl required includes an appropriate third-party custodian, no access to the Internet or to computers, ankle monitoring, verification that Whitney hasn’t harmed the children or that there wasn’t any improper conduct in the home, and no contact with any person under age 18, including his own children, without suitable adult supervision.

Barrett said Whitney has two emancipated children in addition to the five minors at his home.

Whitney, he said, will have another initial appearance and an arraignment within two to three days after the indictment is issued. He will plead not guilty to the charges, Barrett said.

Whitney has been a teacher at Newcastle High for 15 years.

Brad LaCroix, superintendent of Weston County School District 1, earlier set up support for students who had been in contact with Whitney. LaCroix said Tuesday he had no information concerning the number of students who sought counseling.

The school counselors, he said, don’t break down the reasons students come to them.

“That’s pretty confidential,” he said.

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