Feds Say Irvine Teacher Has Taken Child-Porn Plea Deal

An English teacher at University High School in Irvine has agreed to plead guilty to possession of child pornography that investigators found on a computer in his classroom, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Kenneth D. Fair Jr. will enter the plea when he is arraigned Jan. 6 by a U.S. magistrate, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard Y. Lee.

Fair, 32, was one of several people investigated as part of Operation Candyman, a federal probe launched in 2001 of a ring that exchanged child pornography throughout the United States.

A search warrant affidavit filed by FBI Agent Christina Lewis said Fair’s identity was discovered in March 2001 by an undercover Houston FBI agent who had infiltrated the ring. While the investigation of Fair was underway, school officials discovered the child pornography in his classroom computer independently and contacted the FBI, Lee said.

Court records show that school officials continued to find pornographic files on Fair’s classroom computer until October 2002.

Some of the children shown in the files were as young as 4, according to court records. Fair has been on administrative leave.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Fair will plead guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison, Lee said.