Rusk Teacher Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Possession
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
A longtime Rusk High School teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography.
Staff Writer
A longtime Rusk High School teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography.
Harold "Bo" Earl Scallon Jr., 60, admitted to possessing 196 images involving the sexual exploitation of minors and faces up to 10 years in prison.
His sentencing guideline range could be enhanced because some of the images included minors younger than 12, the offense involved some distribution, the images portrayed sadistic and masochistic conduct and there were more than 150 images, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baldwin said. Because Scallon accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty, there will be a decrease in the guideline range, he added.
Scallon admitted that on Oct. 29, his computer was searched and he knowingly possessed the pornographic pictures he had retrieved from the Internet and stored on his computer.
The computer was seized from his Jacksonville home by law enforcement officers executing a search warrant.
The defendant, clad in a black-and-white striped Gregg County Jail jumpsuit, appeared with his attorney Keith Brown, of Sherman, in U.S. Magistrate Judge John Love's court for the hearing.
Scallon was indicted March 4 for possession and distribution of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. On Aug. 29, Scallon distributed computer files containing child pornography and possessed a personal computer with a hard disk containing the sexually explicit material, the indictment states.
The distribution charge will be dismissed because of his plea agreement, Baldwin said.
The government is seeking forfeiture of a laptop, two hard drives and a thumb drive.
According to school records, Scallon attended Rusk High School, where he later taught junior high and high school students beginning in 1979, according to school records.
He was certified to teach theater arts, English, history and driver's education and, when hired nearly 30 years ago, was also qualified to drive a bus.
In 1979, Scallon taught junior high students and, in 1985, he began teaching high school.
Scallon submitted a letter stating his intention to retire from Rusk ISD at the end of May 2002, but apparently continued to teach with one-year contracts, the last signed in April 2007, according to school records.
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