Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
It was actually a mixed verdict…but will that help 28-year-old Josh Wairi (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) very much?
The former elementary school teacher in the Somerville and Cambridge public school systems has finished his five-day jury trial. He was convicted of federal child pornography charges (to wit: possession and transportation of child pornography). He was also acquitted of three counts of production and attempted production of child pornography.
The former teacher at the Graham and Parks School in Cambridge’s case involved, among other things, videos secretly taken of naked children in a Somerville school locker room.
Prosecutors say the former fifth- and sixth-grade teacher used email to trade and receive images and videos of child pornography, uploaded images and videos of children being sexually exploited and also traded the images with others. The Commonwealth says he had more than 27,000 pictures in his possession
A statement from the U.S. District Court says the sentencing of the Defendant, is slated for July 29.
Attorney Sam’s Take On Federal Child Pornography Sentences
“Wow, Sam. Seems like things could not have gone much worse for the Defendant.”
Actually, that is not true.
Had the Defendant been convicted of producing child pornography, he would have faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years on each count of production.
As it stands now, the Defendant faces mandatory minimum sentences of 5 years for the possession counts (maximum sentence 20 years per count). Transportation of the child pornography also provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and no greater than 20 years in prison.
As it is, of course, the Defendant faces substantial prison time. The court cannot sentence him to any less than 5 years. However, it can sentence him to much more.
The court has the choice on whether to give consecutive or concurrent sentences. For example, while the counts carry a maximum of 20 years each, they could be given and ordered to be served consecutively.
Stacking such sentences can turn into a very long sentence.
While the articles I reviewed for this posting from the Boston Herald, Medford patch and Cambridge Wicked Local, do not mention much about the Defendant’s background, It is likely that if he were a repeat offender, we would know about it as the criminal charges themselves would be effected. In such a case where the defendant is a repeat offender, one could expect to see such a sentence.
The federal court follows the Federal Sentencing Guidelines which provide for a whole mathematical equation to figure out the appropriate sentence in criminal cases. So, while his betrayed position of trust will ramp up the sentence, it is unlikely that the Defendant will be looking at a sentence of over 20 years incarceration.
Not that 20 years is a short time, of course.
As we have discussed many times in the past…these cases are handled quite seriously. They can be very technical. In other words, a criminal defendant in such a situation is quite foolish not to obtain the help of an experienced criminal defense attorney.
NOTE TO READER
– We are still working out the “kinks” in the blogging between Ian and myself, but you should know that the previous blog (as well as the next one) were by Ian.
While I will return to the blog on Friday, I should tell you that if you tune into WBZ, 1030 am when the Tsarnaev decision comes in, you will likely hear my response as I have been asked for an interview on the subject when the sentencing verdict is returned.
