Former Md. Substitute Teacher Sentenced In Child Porn Case

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- A former Howard County public school substitute teacher was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison for possessing child pornography.

According to the Howard County State's Attorney's office, 44-year-old Jeremy Sykes of Columbia pleaded guilty to 19 counts in two separate cases in Howard County.

Sykes was arrested in charged in January 2014 after police received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Numerous uploads of child pornography has been traced back to the same user in Howard County, the state's attorney's office reported.

At a Oct. 15 plea hearing, the judge was told by Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Ritter that the IP addresses affiliated with the uploads were issues to a account belonging to Sykes' wife and another was traced to Folly Quarter Middle School, where Sykes was employed as a long-term substitute since October 2013.  Ritter also said the photographs were uploaded by the same email address.

Sykes used a photo editing system to alter the images, using students' yearbook photos to replace pornographic pictures. The pictures included 18 teen girls from Folly Quarter and elsewhere -- one of whom was Sykes' family member.

Sykes told the court he was sorry "at so many levels—not because I got caught but because I didn't want to do it."

Judge Richard S. Bernhardt called Sykes' actions "troubling" and disturbing.

Sykes was sentenced to 20 years, suspending all but four years on the case involving Sykes' stepdaughter, and 25½ years, suspending all but 12 years, 9 months for the 17 counts in the second case.

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