MONROE - A former Orangeville school teacher was charged Thursday with 29 counts of possession of child pornography as two previous counts were dismissed.
Timothy Gordon Hoffman, 43, currently living in Cherry Valley, Illinois, appeared in court Thursday for an oral ruling on a motion to dismiss two Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography that were filed in late September.
These charges stemmed from the discovery of an image of child pornography being uploaded to the social media site ChatStep from Hoffman's IP address. Police seized Hoffman's computer and several flash drives from his Monroe residence.
The motion to dismiss the charges was filed in October after Hoffman's attorney, Robert Duxstad, questioned the validity of the criminal complaint enumerating the charges.
Duxstad said the criminal complaint left many questions unanswered, including the credibility of ChatStep's testimony, Hoffman's understanding of the legal definition of child pornography, and which, if any, of the seized flash drives contained child pornography.
However, on Thursday, when Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale was to reach a conclusion on the motion, Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl moved to dismiss the case outright, as 29 new counts of possession of child porn had been filed against Hoffman. Vale agreed, and the first case was dismissed.
The new 29 charges refer to 29 images and videos found on Hoffman's flash drives that appear to depict child pornography beyond any reasonable doubt, according to a report by Department of Criminal Investigations analyst.
The images - which reportedly depict prepubescent boys engaging in sexual acts with other prepubescent boys, underage teenage boys, adult men, adult women and prepubescent girls and, in one case, an adult man having sex with a prepubescent girl - were only a handful of the 11,071 pornographic images found on the hard drive. According to the analyst's report, based on the lack of physical development in the subjects, it would be unreasonable to believe that Hoffman could have been unaware of the ages of the subjects.
Of the 11,071 images on the hard drive, 9,486 were reportedly photographs, with the remaining 1,585 images being video files.
Appearing in court for his initial appearance Thursday, Hoffman signed a $29,000 signature bond prohibiting him from any contact with children under the age of 18, from approaching school property, from possessing any photographic or video recording of anyone under the age of 18, or from using an internet-capable device except for looking for a job under the supervision of a parent.
If found guilty of all charges, the maximum possible sentence to be imposed upon Hoffman would be 435 years in prison.
Hoffman will next appear in court for his preliminary hearing Thursday.
Timothy Gordon Hoffman, 43, currently living in Cherry Valley, Illinois, appeared in court Thursday for an oral ruling on a motion to dismiss two Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography that were filed in late September.
These charges stemmed from the discovery of an image of child pornography being uploaded to the social media site ChatStep from Hoffman's IP address. Police seized Hoffman's computer and several flash drives from his Monroe residence.
The motion to dismiss the charges was filed in October after Hoffman's attorney, Robert Duxstad, questioned the validity of the criminal complaint enumerating the charges.
Duxstad said the criminal complaint left many questions unanswered, including the credibility of ChatStep's testimony, Hoffman's understanding of the legal definition of child pornography, and which, if any, of the seized flash drives contained child pornography.
However, on Thursday, when Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale was to reach a conclusion on the motion, Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl moved to dismiss the case outright, as 29 new counts of possession of child porn had been filed against Hoffman. Vale agreed, and the first case was dismissed.
The new 29 charges refer to 29 images and videos found on Hoffman's flash drives that appear to depict child pornography beyond any reasonable doubt, according to a report by Department of Criminal Investigations analyst.
The images - which reportedly depict prepubescent boys engaging in sexual acts with other prepubescent boys, underage teenage boys, adult men, adult women and prepubescent girls and, in one case, an adult man having sex with a prepubescent girl - were only a handful of the 11,071 pornographic images found on the hard drive. According to the analyst's report, based on the lack of physical development in the subjects, it would be unreasonable to believe that Hoffman could have been unaware of the ages of the subjects.
Of the 11,071 images on the hard drive, 9,486 were reportedly photographs, with the remaining 1,585 images being video files.
Appearing in court for his initial appearance Thursday, Hoffman signed a $29,000 signature bond prohibiting him from any contact with children under the age of 18, from approaching school property, from possessing any photographic or video recording of anyone under the age of 18, or from using an internet-capable device except for looking for a job under the supervision of a parent.
If found guilty of all charges, the maximum possible sentence to be imposed upon Hoffman would be 435 years in prison.
Hoffman will next appear in court for his preliminary hearing Thursday.