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Pocono News Section
Former Teacher Avoids Jail on Child Porn Charges
Former Teacher Avoids Jail on Child Porn Charges - Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 7:34PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Tuesday, Aug 25, 2009 @ 07:34pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - A former teacher in Lackawanna County will not serve jail time after pleading guilty to child pornography possession charges. Steve Oatman was sentenced Tuesday morning to spend between six and 23 months on home confinement.
The 32-year-old did not say anything as he left the Lackawanna County courthouse. Oatman pleaded guilty to three counts of child porn possession. Prosecutors say he had hundreds of illegal pictures on his home computer.
"He will be on home confinement but he will also be electronically monitored, so I think the judge took into consideration what the defendent did to rehabilitate himself," assistant district attorney Michelle Olshefski said.
Before sentencing, Oatman told the judge how he's been undergoing counseling and on his own restricted his access to computers. His lawyer says the charges liberated Oatman from his addiction.
"His problem has been exposed and he feels now he can finally address the problems that he had and he feels the process worked well," defense lawyer Joseph Saporito said.
What makes this case more disturbing is that Oatman was a teacher and coach at the Scranton State School for the Deaf.
"That was certainly something that caused us a lot of concern early on. We certainly had questions and conducted further investigations along those lines. Thankfully nothing turned up," Olshefski said.
Since his arrest, Oatman has taken actions on his own to make sure he never teaches again.
"He has resigned his teaching position and he's surrendered his certificate so he can no longer be a teacher," Saporito said.
Besides home confinement, Oatman will also have to serve one year probation and perform 200 hours of community service. | | |
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