Teacher gets 18-month sentence for child porn

COEUR d’ALENE — A former Plummer school teacher was sentenced to 18 months behind bars and given credit for the six months he’s served in jail in exchange for a guilty plea to two counts of having child porn.

Jeremy R. Campbell, 35, was charged in March with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child by willfully accessing or possessing child porn.

At Campbell’s hearing Friday, First District Judge Rich Christensen said the defendant was found by evaluators to be at low risk to reoffend, and noted Campbell’s lack of criminal history.

“I find you sufficiently remorseful,” Christensen said.

He ordered Campbell to register as a sex offender.

Campbell, of Coeur d’Alene, had taught fifth-graders at Fernan Elementary School in Coeur d’Alene, and at John Brown Elementary School in Rathdrum, before taking a job as an instructor at the Plummer-Worley School District. He was in his first year teaching in Plummer when he was arrested on child pornography charges, Superintendent Judi Sharrett said.

An earlier agreement between attorneys was for a more stringent 2-year sentence. If the defendant’s risk assessment showed a low chance of recidivism, though, the attorneys agreed to reduce the recommended sentence to 18 months.

Determinations made by a psychologist and by the Idaho Department of Correction, then reported in Campbell’s presentence and pscychosexual evaluations, showed that he was at a low risk to reoffend, according to court records.

Police investigations did not find that Campbell distributed sexually exploitative material — which can result in up to 30 years in prison and fines of $50,000 — but that he had downloaded electronic child porn files.

Campbell, who was originally held on a $250,000 bond, could be out of prison by next August.