Former Subsitute Teacher Sentenced to 16 Years for Possessing Child Pornography

A Columbia man who was a substitute teacher in the Howard County Public School System was sentenced this week to more than 16 years in jail for possession of child pornography and sex abuse of a minor.

Jeremy Sykes, 44, of Hesperus Drive in Columbia, previously pleaded guilty to 18 counts of using a computer to depict a minor engaged in a sex act and one count of sexual abuse of a minor, according to a report from the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office.

In all, Sykes is expected to serve 16 years and 9 months in jail.

Sykes had been a long-term substitute teacher instructing Folly Quarter Middle School students in technology education since October 2013 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children informed Howard County police in December 2013 that uploads of child pornography were traced from a computer at Sykes’ home and the Howard County Public School System, the report said.

The center learned of the activity from Photobucket—a platform for storing images online—which notified authorities that one user had uploaded multiple images of suspected child pornography from the two different addresses, according to the statement of facts from the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Related:

• Columbia Substitute Teacher Charged with Child Porn Possession
• Columbia Teacher Charged with 64 Sex-Related Offenses

Through investigation of Sykes’ laptop, cell phone, thumb drive, flash drive and Photobucket account, police found more than 1,000 pornographic images, including digitally altered pictures of 18 teenage girls including one of Sykes’ family members, according to the report from the state’s attorney’s office.

In some cases, Sykes used students’ yearbook photos to put the girls’ faces on pornographic images, the report said.

Using a computer to depict a minor engaged in a sex act is punishable by up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine of up to $25,000, according to Maryland law.

Judge Richard Bernhardt sentenced Sykes to 18 months for each of the 17 counts of child pornography, then suspended all but nine months for each count, totaling 12 years and 9 months in jail, the state’s attorney’s office reported.

Several people were in court for sentencing on behalf of the victims, including an attorney who is a family friend of one of the victims and read this statement on the family’s behalf: “We are sickened by this monster’s action. We trusted this individual to teach her, not abuse her.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Ritter said that Sykes abused his position of trust and “was around those children on a daily basis and that’s why he chose them.”

See Also:

• Former Atholton Teacher Charged in Sex Acts with Minor
• HCPSS Issues Statement on Teacher Facing Sex Charges

For creating digitally altered, pornographic images of a family member, Bernhardt handed down a 20-year sentence with all but four years suspended for sex abuse of a minor, the report said.

Digitally altering images can be considered a form of sexual abuse and exploitation by Maryland law, according to Howard County State’s Attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan. He said that there was no evidence that Sykes shared any of the altered images with others.

Sykes will also serve one year for child pornography in the case of the family member, concurrent with the four-year sentence.

Tearfully, Sykes said in Howard County Circuit Court Monday that he was sorry on “so many levels—not because I got caught but because I didn’t want to do it,” according to the report from the state’s attorney’s office.

A forensic psychiatrist and Sykes’ attorney said that he suffers from a sexual disorder dating back to when he was a child, the report said.

Judge Bernhardt called Sykes’ actions “troubling and disturbing” and will recommend Sykes for commitment to the Patuxent Institution’s Eligible Person program, according to Kirwan. The program employs psychiatrists, social workers and psychologists to help treat inmates with intellectual or emotional imbalances.

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