Teacher Porn Conviction Sparks Tech Debate

Substitute Teacher Found Guilty Of Exposing Seventh-Grade Students To Pornography On Computer

(AP)  Until recently, Julie Amero says, she lived the quiet life of a small-town substitute teacher, with little knowledge of computers and even less about porn.

Now she is in the middle of a criminal case that hinges on the intricacies of both, and it could put her behind bars for up to 40 years.

She was convicted last month of exposing seventh-grade students to pornography on her classroom computer. She contended the images were inadvertently thrust onto the screen by pornographers' unseen spyware and adware programs.

Prosecutors dispute that. But her argument has made her a cause celebre among some technology experts, who say what happened to her could happen to anyone.

"I'm scared," the 40-year-old Amero said. "I'm just beside myself over something I didn't do."

It all began in October 2004. Amero was assigned to a class at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, a city of around 37,000 people about 40 miles east of Hartford.

Amero says that before her class started, a teacher allowed her to e-mail her husband. She says she used the computer and went to the bathroom, returning to find the permanent teacher gone and two students viewing a Web site on hair styles.

Amero says she chased the students away and started class. But later, she says, pornographic images started popping up on the computer screen by themselves. She says she tried to click the images off, but they kept returning, and she was under strict orders not to shut the computer off.

"I did everything I possibly could to keep them from seeing anything," she says.

Prosecutor David Smith contended at Amero's three-day trial that she actually clicked on graphic Web sites.

Several students testified that they saw pictures of naked men and women, including at least one image a couple having oral sex.

Computer consultant Herb Horner testified for the defense that the children had gone to an innocent Web site on hair styles and were redirected to another hairstyle site that had pornographic links. "It can happen to anybody," Horner said.

The defense argued that the images were caused by adware and spyware — programs that are often secretly planted on computers by Internet businesses to track users' browsing habits. They can generate pop-up ads — in some cases, pornographic ones.

"It's absolutely plausible," Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said of Amero's case. "It's a huge problem."

But many remain skeptical, including Mark Steinmetz, who served on Amero's jury.

"So many kids noticed this going on," Steinmetz said. "It was truly uncalled for. I would not want my child in her classroom. All she had to do was throw a coat over it or unplug it. We figured even if there were pop-ups, would you sit there?"

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on companies accused of spreading malicious spyware to millions of computer users worldwide.

Amero and her supporters say the old computer lacked firewall or antispyware protections to prevent inappropriate pop-ups.

"What is extraordinary is the prosecution admitted there was no search made for spyware — an incredible blunder akin to not checking for fingerprints at a crime scene," Alex Eckelberry, president of a Florida software company, wrote recently in the local newspaper. "When a pop-up occurs on a computer, it will get shown as a visited Web site, and no 'physical click' is necessary."

Smith, the prosecutor, would not say what he plans to recommend when Amero is sentenced March 2. John Newsone, a defense attorney in Norwich familiar with the case, said Amero might be spared prison or face perhaps a year to 18 months.

Principal Scott Fain said the computer lacked the latest firewall protection because a vendor's bill had gone unpaid. "I was shocked to see what made it through," he said.

But Fain also said Amero was the only one to report such a problem: "We've never had a problem with pop-ups before or since."

[billpl-2009]

I can't believe what I'm reading??!!??

the students were left alone on an unprotected computer???

...you know *** straight that the kids clicked on the sites. The kids know better than she, where to find all the porno stuff.

[linfinster]

That is outrageous! I can't believe that this case even went to court. Anybody with half a brain knows what it's like to have this happen to you, if you own a compter, of course. Shame once again on our justice system! What a waste of time and lives. Yeah, she was dumb not to cover it up, but that shouldn't get you 20 years in the slammer!! What a joke our system is!

[mtredhawk200]

Computer crimes are easy for prosecutors, and fluff up their conviction rates. The fact that the person being prosecuted may not be guilty of anything other than not being computer savvy doesn't matter. A lot of 18 and over young people are going to federal prison for "child porn" that is made and distributed by 16 and 17 year olds who are old enough to know what they're doing! Do you know that 3 or more "suggestive" pictures on your computer of anyone who looks under 18 will get you a 5 year minimum sentence, and you are guilty untill you can prove you're innocent? What about the teacher who left the kids unsupervised? Shouldn't the school be held responsible for firewalls on their own computers? Big brother is watching, but can't seem to catch the real criminals.

[susanhelit]

Sounds to me like this article isn't reporting the whole story - there's a little line from the juror about the other students noticing this going on - sounds like they testified that she was causing the popups.

Unless we've got evidence of a seriously subnormal IQ, I just don't see how she'd take, "Don't turn the computer off" to include, "Even if it's showing *** videos to the kids". Just doesn't fit - she could have covered the screen, or turned it off.

[taddles-2009]

Justice is blind and she is served by the incompetant and the stupid.

We need an IQ test for prospective jurors to weed out the morons like Steinmetz.

[susanhelit]

And the article is messing up the penalty too - she faces from no jail time up to 18 months.

I get so tired of stupid journalists thinking it's fun to freak people out with slanted and inaccurate stories.

[susanhelit]

12 jurors agreed - so the odds are very strong that there's more to the story, and this is just another bunch of garbage where a journalist slants a story heavily one way to make us all outraged, for fun and profit (and ratings!).

[taddles-2009]

Porn pop ups are made so that when you click on them to close them they just start up another pop up. It's infuriating when you get caught in the loop of these nasty spyware things but ANYONE can get caught by these things. Seeing that *** come up on the screen in a class room full of kids ould make anyone panic. Maybe if the prosecutor would do his job instead of trying to get another kill on his resume he might have bothered to have the computer logs checked.

This is more the fault of the school for not bothering to put in decent anti-spyware or firewalls.

[seanv137]

i find it rather laughable that a 7th grade female teacher would purposefully show internet porn to her students and think she could get away with it. it has always seemed ironic that when it comes to child porn, nobody wants to crack down and punish the people who make it or the people messing with our computers that are making millions off the adware and spyware.

[seanv137]

This is more the fault of the school for not bothering to put in decent anti-spyware or firewalls.

---------


exactly...the school needs to be sued along with the makers of the spyware and adware.

[mjbricka]

When in doubt, blame a teacher. It's the American way.

[thomderr]

It seems as though most of people posting here know their computer basics, and the school district doesn't.

With a strong computer trojan, she may have been trying to click off one page, only to be redirected to another.

It's sad some of our educators and their supervisors can be computer illiterate, when they supposedly teaching our children with computers.

[johnshaft4]

The school disctrict must be sued for negligence.

[jesunkel]

Between this and Boston going completely out of control over the cartoon-show adds, thinking they were somehow bombs, dunno what's goin' on in New England...

[cathaleen]

The only thing this teacher should be convicted of is stupidity. She should have immediately turned off the computer and called someone from the school office. Maybe she would have been dismissed but she would not be put in jail.

[Razzl]

In this day and age even a part-time school administrator and computer amateur running a system should know how to turn on the basic security software that comes with the system. The last two versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer have popup blocking built in. Shame on the school computer administrator for being so ignorant...

[ahsumgurl909]

This is the lamest thing on earth. I myself have had porn sites take over my computer like over 125 different widows opened on me and I could not stop it. And like someone else said those kids were on there without supervision I bet any money they are the ones that went to the site at that time. thats why they popped up on the teacher. Kids are pretty smart these days and besides that. IMO T.V. isnt far from *** rated anyway. I would sue for discrimanation and reputaion if I was this teacher. Our tax dollars wasted on this case. Go get all these child molesters and lock them up instead. FOR GOOD. They are the ones who need to stay in prison. And they neve do. Cuz outr tax dollars are wasted on this kind of stuff!!

[gotagrip]

If anything the prosecutor should be fired for wasting the taxpayer's money on this malicious prosecution. And the thought of this person going to jail is outrageous. Most of us have had something like this happen on our computer. Its certainly not a substitutes fault. I suggest they chase some real criminals. I wonder if the prosecutor is related to that guy at Duke that was prosecuting the make-believe rape?

[newton1901]

I am so angry over this result!!!

I have owned PCs continuously since 1979 and use them every day. I am amazed at how even the most sophisticated pop-up blocking software can be out-smarted by these various spyware and trojan programs. It is very hard to stay on top of this even for someone very experienced.

I agree, this conviction should be overturned. The Judge was in GROSS ERROR to allow the jury to convict and not step in and void the decision.

The school district is at fault for not having the most sophiticated firewall and blocking software available. If it had been in place, this poor substitute teacher would not be in this situation and no students would have been exposed to this on school computers.

I wonder how many of the jurors, if polled, would have admitted to having the best safeguards on their own home PCs and sit with their children to monitor every minute the PC is turned on?

Until somthing is done to these criminals that create the pornographic intrusions, we will all be open to the occasional pop-up or innocent click.

Newton

[sheila1346]

I am truly amazed that in this day of computer use this poor woman would be convicted of a crime that could happen on any computer that has not been updated with spy ware and pop up blockers. This was a regular occurrence for me a few years back until I finely found a way to deal with it. I logged on one morning and found very graphic photo's on my desk top. This would be a grave miscarriage of justice if this sentence is allowed to go forward.

[victoriarum]

I pray for Julie Amero and her husband Wes Volle, during this time of tribulation.

God Bless.

[tonytx58]

this is insane. I have been a computer professional since the 70s. this is a very common thing especially when the machine is not protected by firewall or popup blockers. this poor woman obviously had no malicious intent to harm these kids. i wonder what office this prosecutor is going to run for when this is over. prosecutors like this should be charged with abuse of process and removed from the system. i just cant believe a judge has allowed this to go so far.

[leyzaro]

What is going on in our country? I used to know this country but lately I have become more and more embarrassed with what some of our courts, judges and prosecutors are getting away with. Our freedom and rights seem to be slipping from our finger tips more and more. I am so disgusted and appalled! Democracy at its best
Anyone that has ever used or owned a PC know that these pop ups occur...without warning. This has happened to me on several occasions even with spyware. My support goes out to this family.

[leyzaro]

What is going on in our country? I used to know this country but lately I have become more and more embarrassed with what some of our courts, judges and prosecutors are getting away with. Our freedom and rights seem to be slipping from our finger tips more and more. I am so disgusted and appalled! Democracy at its best
Anyone that has ever used or owned a PC know that these pop ups occur...without warning. This has happened to me on several occasions even with spyware. My support goes out to this family.

[leyzaro]

What is going on in our country? I used to know this country but lately I have become more and more embarrassed with what some of our courts, judges and prosecutors are getting away with. Our freedom and rights seem to be slipping from our finger tips more and more. I am so disgusted and appalled! Democracy at its best
Anyone that has ever used or owned a PC know that these pop ups occur...without warning. This has happened to me on several occasions even with spyware. My support goes out to this family.

[leyzaro]

What is going on in our country? I used to know this country but lately I have become more and more embarrassed with what some of our courts, judges and prosecutors are getting away with. Our freedom and rights seem to be slipping from our finger tips more and more. I am so disgusted and appalled! Democracy at its best
Anyone that has ever used or owned a PC know that these pop ups occur...without warning. This has happened to me on several occasions even with spyware. My support goes out to this family.

[leyzaro]

What is going on in our country? I used to know this country but lately I have become more and more embarrassed with what some of our courts, judges and prosecutors are getting away with. Our freedom and rights seem to be slipping from our finger tips more and more. I am so disgusted and appalled! Democracy at its best
Anyone that has ever used or owned a PC know that these pop ups occur...without warning. My support goes out to this family.

[pjwils15]

susanhelit,

I am from the area and my children attended the Norwich school systems.You are wrong, if you research this on the web you will see that the whole case was circus. The Prosecutions technical witness was a cop with minimal training. He was not a security expert or forensics expert. He admittedly did not check the computer for malware. The defense was not allowed to present all their technical evidence due to glitch and it was supressed by the judge because they didn't tell the prosecution about it ahead of time. The judge was falling asleep in the court room and instructed the jury that she wanted it wrapped up by Friday. The school did not have the proper software in place at the time to stop this problem of which they admitted. The law states they are supposed to. So the jury did not get the whole story. It was a circus to say the least. She has reason for appeal and if it is not granted, then every teacher, mother, father grandparents should be afraid to use their computer when children are around. Because this does happen very often, and people react the same. She is not stupid, she did what she thought was enough, but it obviously wasn't enough. Do you send someone to prison over this? Teachers beware, who is next?

[michellem99-2009]

Where was the firewall? Today's children are smart and know their way around the web. They had to know the teacher didn't know the computer. Why wasn't the kids told to take their their seats when she left the room and stay in them? Why also wasn't there a password used sheen saver in place that even tho a student shake the the mouse they can't gain acess to the web? If nothing else works,shut it down. If the systems Administer was/is too busy to do his/her duties then that person has a problem and should face the fact that that person failed the school system.