Friends of Ting-Yi:
FYI, Ting-Yi is a 30-year classroom and
administrative veteran of northern
Virginia's public schools. He is a Fulbright Teacher, a former Peace Corps
volunteer
and, needless to say, a wonderful human being and valued member of
our community.
The Case:
Incredibly, last fall Ting-Yi found himself on the receiving end of a felony “possession of
child pornography”
charge issued by the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
This charge stemmed from a disciplinary incident in
March 2008 at Freedom High
School in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Ting-Yi was the Assistant Principal. After a
teacher informed him of a rumor of a suspicious “nude” photo, Ting-Yi conducted a
school investigation,
immediately informed the building principal, and obtained the
single photo in question at the direction of the Principal.
At the time of this charge, the spokesman for the Sheriff's
Department described the photo as "inappropriate"
and that "does not rise to the level of a
criminal case." The Commonwealth’s Attorney was informed that
Ting-Yi had
discussed and reported the incident to the Principal, fulfilling both the letter and spirit of
the applicable
laws.
The initial charge, a defense motion to disqualify the office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney
filed on Oct. 7, 2008, and then two other misdemeanor charges (contributing to the
delinquency of a minor) filed
by the Commonwealth’s Attorney have prolonged the case
far longer than anyone anticipated.
Finally
on March 31, 2009, the judge dismissed all charges against Ting-Yi. In the aftermath,
Ting-Yi's ordeal generated significant
local and national interest. His case was covered by Wired
magazine, he wrote about it in the Washington Post's Outlook
section, and he was interviewed
on Michelle Martin's "Tell Me More" show on NPR. Links to these stories are
listed in the News/Updates
section of this site.
On June 23, 2009, the Loudoun County School Board voted
to pay Ting-Yi's legal costs that amounted
to over $167,000. This act of support by the Board is both a further vindication
for Ting-Yi and a
rebuke to the prosecutor who brought the charges.
Throughout the last year
Ting-Yi had the full support of his family, friends, the
Virginia Education Association, the school system, and his spiritual
community as he
sought to prove his innocence and clear his name.
