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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Substitute Teacher Faces 40 Years For Having Adware-Infested Computer In Class |
| 2007-02-08 |
| Have you ever faced a pop-up that wouldn't go away? You try clicking it closed and another pops up in less than a nanosecond. You reboot the system, annoyed that your anti-spyware program let something slip through. That's a hassle, sure--but chances are, your experience won't land you in jail. Julie Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Connecticut, has been convicted of impairing the morals of a child and risking injury to a minor by exposing as many as ten seventh-grade students to porn sites. It's a short story: On October, 19, 2004, Amero was a substitute teacher for a seventh-grade language class at Kelly Middle School. A few students were crowded around a PC; some were giggling. She investigated and saw the kids looking at a barrage of graphic, hard-core pornographic pop-ups. The prosecution contended that she had used the computer to visit porn sites. The defense said that wasn't true and argued that the machine was infested with spyware and malware, and that opening the browser caused the computer to go into an endless loop of pop-ups leading to porn sites. Amero maintains her innocence. She refused offers of a plea bargain and now faces an astounding 40 years in prison (her sentencing is on March 2). I'll admit all my don't haves right away: I don't have access to court records; I don't have first-hand evidence of what occurred; and I haven't examined the computer's hard drive myself. What I do have is a working knowledge of spyware and plenty of experience cleaning infected PCs. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 Most jurors are as stupid as the day is long. This case just confirms it. |
| Posted by: Omolurt Elmeaper6990 2007-02-08 22:24 |