A former Ballston Spa elementary school music teacher admitted in federal court Tuesday to possessing child pornography.
Timothy Brehmer, 35, pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of up to six and a half years in federal prison, according to the plea agreement.
He also agreed to surrender his teaching license and formally resign from employment at the Ballston Spa Central School District.
Brehmer was charged in December after Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators visited his home at 24 Third Ave. in Broadalbin and found dozens of still images and video files depicting child pornography in his computer.
The images on his desktop computer were received between April 2007 and December 2011, but according to court records, Brehmer told investigators he had been searching for and downloading child pornography since 1998.
He was suspended from his job at the Ballston Spa Central School District after his arrest and barred from school property.
He was employed as a music teacher for kindergarten through fifth grade at each of the district’s elementary schools — Malta Avenue, Milton Terrace North, Milton Terrace South and Wood Road.
He was also a member of the adjunct music staff at Schenectady County Community College, where he was dismissed immediately after his December arrest.
Brehmer was originally targeted as part of Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative led by Homeland Security investigators to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, illegal immigrant sex offenders and child sex traffickers.
In all, Brehmer faces up to 20 years in federal prison, as the final sentence is up to the judge. He agreed to waive his right to appeal any sentence of six and a half years or less. The mandatory minimum is five years.
He is to be sentenced Sept. 12.
Categories: Uncategorized
