This story is beginning to make An Series of Unfortunate Events look like a
Mickie Mouse cartoon.
Note the NY Times article today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/nyregion/14teacher.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Here is what I was quoted as saying:
³This is a tragedy of errors,² said Nancy Willard, director of the Center
for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, based in Eugene, Ore. Adding that she
was sympathetic to Ms. Amero, she said, ³If she¹s guilty, then every parent
and teacher in this country is at risk of arrest, because at some point in
time that technology is going to fail and kids are going to be exposed to
pornographic material.²
The police detective who evaluated the computer using a software program
that was incapable of figuring out what happened, called ComputerCop also
has an interesting background. look here:
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=594152
³Norwich police detective (Mark Lounsburg) has admitted to drinking beer
while driving a minor around the city on a sting targeting alcohol sales to
underage drinkers.²
And Julie is the one who is guilty of "impairing the morals of a minor"???
Julie's defense attorney is an old man and has multiple sclerosis. The judge
was reportedly rolling her eyes as he tottered in the court room. He also
failed to provide a copy of his expert's report to the prosecutor, which is
required legal practice, which is why the expert's testimony, which could
have exonerated Julie, was excluded. I think he simply made a mistake, due
to old age and illness. But this is one key reason for the conviction.
The judge recently had gastric surgery for obesity and so has a stomach that
can hold a tablespoon of food. She reportedly was falling asleep during the
trial.
Despite the fact that the computer Julie used was totally unprotected -- no
firewall, no spyware protection, no anti-virus, no blocking of pop-ups --
and the knowledge that the district's filtering system was not functioning
because they had not paid the license fee, the school officials maintain
that there has never been any other incident of concern reported in the
district. The school officials said in today's NY Times article: "School
officials say they do not understand why Ms. Amero would have had problems
that never plagued other employees." And do you folks who use computers
regularly believe this?
At this point in time, I firmly believe that the school administration has
framed Julie to provide cover for themselves.
Only one of the teachers, another substitute, who were in the teacher's
lounge when Julie asked for help testified in her defense and her services
are no longer used by the district. She has indicated that the other
teachers were intimidated by the principal.
The ComputerCop software company is bragging that this is the first
conviction obtained through the use of their product.
There are a group of computer security experts who are actively engaged in
evaluating all of the evidence.
And the saddest of all. When this incident occurred, Julie was 4 months
pregnant. She lost her baby.
Please forward this message to *everyone.*
Nancy
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
nwillard@csriu.org
Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Aggression, Threats, and Distress. New edition, published by Research Press.
Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
Internet Safely and Responsibly. Jossey-Bass (March 16, 2007)
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