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School employee charged with child pornography; attorney disputes charge
After a charge of failure to report child abuse or neglect was dropped against Ting-Yi Oei in July, Oei was arrested again in connection with a possession of child pornography charge Aug. 20, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.
Oei had been indicted by a Loudoun County grand jury earlier this month on the child pornography charge but failed to appear at a scheduling hearing, prompting Wednesday's arrest, Troxell said.
Oei's attorney, Steven D. Stone, called the charge “absurd” and “totally uncalled-for.” He also said the case is an example of “persecution, not prosecution.”
“My client does not, has never, possessed any child pornography, period, exclamation point,” Stone said.
The charge of failure to report child abuse or neglect had been rendered in May when Sheriff's investigators found that Oei had evidence of an inappropriate cell-phone photo of a female Freedom student who is a juvenile.
Oei apparently confiscated the photo from another student at the school March 14 but never informed the child’s parents, the Loudoun Sheriff’s Office school resource deputy assigned to the school or Child Protective Services, as required by law, Troxell said.
The Sheriff's Office became aware of the incident nearly three weeks later through a third party, Troxell said.
At that time, Oei was placed on paid administrative leave by Loudoun County Public Schools, spokesman Wayde Byard said.
Then, officials with LCPS checked with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office July 27 to see if the case was going forward, Byard said.
Since the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office had decided not to prosecute the charge, Oei was reinstated as assistant principal, Byard said.
Stone said his client thought the matter was settled after the charge was dropped and had no idea about the child pornography charge until he was arrested last Wednesday.
“Everyone thought that this matter was over and done with because it was clear to everyone that Mr. Oei had not done anything wrong – he had clearly done his job,” Stone said.
The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office did not tell LCPS Oei was still under investigation, or he would have remained on paid administrative leave, Byard said.
He was put on paid administrative leave again after his arrest Wednesday.
Troxell said he could not comment on why Oei was not originally charged with possession of child pornography in May.
An e-mail sent to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nicole Wittmann requesting comment was not returned.
Oei is free on a personal recognizance bond. His two-day trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 26, 2009.
Jerry Black, a former principal and assistant principal in the county, has taken Oei's place at Freedom for the time being, Byard said.
Before becoming assistant principal at Freedom, Oei had worked for Fairfax County Public Schools as a teacher and administrator for more than 20 years.
In 2007, he sued the FCPS school board for discrimination, saying a 2004 hiring process was manipulated so he would not be promoted to principal because he is Asian. A judge dismissed the case.
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