You asked for an update on the proceedings in the case against Julie Amero.

Julie Amero was a substitute teacher in a seventh-grade classroom in Norwich in 2004. She allegedly put pornographic images on the computer in the classroom, which students saw. She was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor.

In her trial, Amero claimed she was the victim of malicious software that produced pornographic pop-up ads. She was convicted in January 2007 on four felony counts and faced up to 40 years in prison. In June 2007, Judge Hillary B. Strackbein threw out the conviction and a new trial was ordered on the basis of “flawed testimony” from the state. The state was prepared to go to trial again, with jury selection scheduled for December 2, 2008.

On November 22, 2008, before the new trial could take place, Amero pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. She had to pay a $100 fine, surrender her teaching license, and agree to no longer seek employment in schools in Connecticut.

David Smith, the prosecutor for the case, said the state was willing to go forward with the case because (1) students alleged she had done a similar thing the year before and (2) the state believed she was knowledgeable about computers, having used them in previous jobs, despite her claims to the contrary.

A number of computer experts stepped forward and defended Amero as being the victim of malicious software and bad IT management on the part of the school system.

RO:ts