Former Teacher Going to Jail

A former elementary school teacher from Thousand Oaks was ordered Monday to serve three months in jail for downloading and possessing child pornography.

James Robertson, 56, who was a fourth-grade teacher at White Oak Elementary in Westlake Village, apologized during his sentencing hearing and told a judge that he did not realize he was committing a crime when he printed out sexually explicit images of children on his home computer.

“It is a great embarrassment that I stand in front of you,” Robertson said. “I see very clearly now that what I have done was harmful ... I am ready for whatever sentence you give today.”

Robertson, who retired from teaching after his arrest in August, faced up to one year in Ventura County Jail after pleading guilty in late October to two misdemeanor charges.

He was originally charged with 20 misdemeanor counts, which included one count for each printed picture of child porn that authorities found in his home.

During sentencing, Robertson’s estranged wife, Jeane, pleaded for leniency. She told Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie that she was the one who turned in her husband to police for possessing child porn.

But she argued that Robertson, to whom she was married for 18 years, had been a good father and a dedicated educator who had never harmed a child. They are now divorcing.

Robertson has no prior criminal record.

“I do not believe he is dangerous or a threat to society,” she said, adding that she and her 14-year-old daughter are financially dependent on Robertson and cannot afford for him to be incarcerated.

Robertson’s lawyer, Tim Quinn, urged Brodie to spare his client from a jail sentence. But the judge, agreeing with prosecutor Howard Wise, ruled that some time behind bars was warranted.

Brodie told Robertson that the pictures were “degrading” and “inhuman” and questioned how a teacher charged with protecting children could download computer images that sexually exploit them.

“It’s offensive and you knew it,” Brodie said.

In addition to the three-month jail sentence, which Robertson must begin serving in mid-January, he was placed on three years’ probation, ordered to register as a sex offender and attend sex offender counseling, and barred from using the Internet at home.