Child porn gets public school music teacher 5 years in jail

A former music teacher in the Elizabeth public schools has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for sharing child pornography via the internet.

Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said Ronald Scott, 63, of Edison was arrested in January, 2014 after his computer address came up in an investigation by the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children task force of a peer-to-peer network used by those who trade porn.

Detectives traced the address to his home, where police found two desktop computers, two external hard drives and multiple computer discs, the Office of the Attorney General said. A digital forensics exam found 64 videos of child pornography on the computers and hard drives, it said.

Scott pleaded guilty in December to second-degree distribution of child pornography. He had been placed on an unpaid leave of absence by the Elizabeth school district.

“This teacher participated in the sexual exploitation of children by linking himself to the network of offenders who view and distribute child pornography. The classroom certainly is no place for anyone who derives pleasure from seeing a child harmed. In addition to sending Scott to prison, we have ensured that he will never teach again," Lougy said.