A former high school educator in Orange County has received a sentence exceeding 17 years in federal prison, along with a lifetime of supervised release, for the covert installation of hidden cameras in school restrooms and for possessing numerous images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including those involving children under 12, as announced by officials on Tuesday.
Authorities report that 38-year-old Siu Kong Sit, a Rowland Heights resident and former educator at Beckman High School in Irvine, entered a guilty plea on March 29 for one count of possessing child pornography.
Starting in February 2020, Sit began placing concealed cameras in restrooms at the high school in Irvine and would frequently examine the footage and save videos that caught his attention, as stated in a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California Office.
In May 2020, while coaching the school’s robotics team, Sit utilized similar strategies in a hotel restroom where the team members were accommodated during a tournament in Texas.
“From 2020 to 2023, Sit viewed and downloaded hundreds of images of children and adults, in various states of undress, using restrooms,” the release noted.
In February 2023, authorities uncovered the cameras and seized multiple digital devices from the residence of the 38-year-old, in addition to two external storage drives linked to the cameras set up at Beckman High School.
“A forensic review of the various digital devices identified dozens of images and videos of child pornography, including images and videos that Sit had recorded himself of children using restrooms in various states of undress,” prosecutors said. “The victims that Sit recorded without their consent were under the age of 18, and some of the victims were under the age of 12.”
Authorities found a significant number of disturbing materials on a single hard drive, including numerous images and a video that portray a young child in inappropriate situations. Additionally, another 150 images and four videos were discovered on a different drive.
The 38-year-old acknowledged in his plea agreement that he was aware of possessing images and videos depicting minors under the age of 12 involved in sexual conduct.
“This defendant was every parent’s nightmare – rather than care for the safety and well-being of students, he exploited them in the most abhorrent way,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.
Sit is currently confronting criminal charges initiated by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office related to the adult victims captured by the concealed cameras.
Source: KTLA on Yahoo! News
