Former Teacher Surrenders in Child Pornography Case
A former Anaheim elementary teacher surrendered Wednesday and will face 14 felony counts of producing child pornography and one misdemeanor count of possession after allegedly shooting lewd videotapes of some of his sixth-grade students.
James Russell Hiland, 37, turned himself in at the Anaheim Police Department, posted $250,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned April 28, said Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.
The charges stemmed from a police investigation that began in November after one of Hiland’s students at Lincoln Elementary School confided to another teacher that Hiland had been producing the videotapes under the guise of a “computer project.” Instead, he was surreptitiously videotaping up the boys’ shorts, said investigators, who found numerous pornographic images on Hiland’s home computer.
The teacher resigned shortly after the investigation began. If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to 11 years in prison, authorities said.
Schroeder said there may be more than 14 victims, and urged anyone with information to contact police.
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