San Diego Teacher Charged with Child Pornography

A San Diego school teacher in custody for child pornography charges attempted suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center a little less than a week after his arrest in North Park. Timothy James Hensley, an award-winning science teacher at Bell Middle School in Paradise Hills, is being held for charges of possessing child pornography. He was arrested on January 15th after federal authorities, including agents from Homeland Security, executed a search warrant at his apartment. Agents stated that they found sexually explicit content involving minors on 5 DVDs located in Hensley’s apartment. While he was free to leave at the time of the search, Hensley was later arrested at a parking lot in Balboa Park

The Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce is primarily responsible for the arrest and investigation. The multi-agency organization works to find individuals who knowingly possess, receive, distribute or produce images of children in sexually explicit conduct. The agency started in 1998 as a means to coordinate federal, state and local resources in the fight to stop the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet. The agency has a lot of resources at its disposal, and they are known for bringing very strong cases against defendants. Mounting a proper defense requires a defense attorney with experience in child pornography cases in San Diego.

Federal penalties for child pornography possession can be as high as 10-years in prison per count. Prosecutors follow the guidelines set out by the Federal Sentencing Commission. Several factors contribute to the total sentence imposed on each defendant: number of images, age of victims, use of a computer in the crime and criminal history. The base offense level for possession of child pornography is 18, requiring 27-33 months in prison; however, the median sentence for child pornography cases in southern California is 65 months, and nationally it’s 85 months. The result of a child pornography case can last far beyond the imposed prison sentence. Most defendants are required to register as sex offenders, affecting their ability to find a job and place to live after they have served their sentence.

Cases involving child pornography are very sensitive to defendants and their families. Most prosecutions involve significant social stigma regardless of the final verdict. It’s important to retain a defense attorney that knows the rights of defendants no matter how much emotion is involved in a case. As seen in the case above, many defendants feel like they have no way out, but everyone deserves a solid and hard-fought defense no matter what their crime.