Former Teacher Sentenced To Prison For Using School Computer To Acquire Child Pornography

PITTSBURGH - A former Butler middle school teacher was sentenced in federal court to two years imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose imposed the sentence on Jason B. Nolan, 37, of Gibsonia, Pa.

According to information presented to the court, Nolan, a former middle-school, social studies teacher in the South Butler County School District, used a laptop computer taken from the school’s library to acquire and possess images of child pornography. Nolan also used the laptop to communicate on-line with minors, including a female he believed to be 12 years of age, with whom he spoke of meeting to have sex and to whom he sent naked, sexual photographs of himself, taken in his classroom after school hours.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Nolan.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.