Sexting

Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) Division Counsel William Chapman referenced that “ billing statements also indicate that Mr. Oei was billed for time that the attorney spent in media interviews and dealings with the press.”

In most circumstances, I would not comment publicly on a case that had been closed by the courts, because my responsibilities as Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney would have ended. But in the case of the “sexting” incident at Freedom High School, and the subsequent arrest of Assistant Principal Ting-Yi Oei on child pornography charges, I believe I have a responsibility to the families of Loudoun County to speak out. Mr. Oei himself has raised the public visibility of this case, both in the Washington Post Sunday Outlook section (April 19, 2009) and on National Public Radio (April 28, 2009), and in the process he has distorted the facts in this case and unfairly criticized the Loudoun County criminal justice system.

Ting-Yi Oei, an assistant principal at Freedom High School, faces a charge of Possession of Child Pornography. In the final installment of a three-part series, the Loudoun Independent continues an examination of the Oei case, concluding with an analysis of three motions filed by defense attorney Steven David Stone—including motions which allege misconduct by Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman related to a personal bias, discovery issues concerning the photo at the center of it all, and failure to provide Oei with a preliminary hearing.