A former Santa Maria substitute teacher who admitted to having thousands of images of child pornography was sentenced Tuesday to eight years behind bars.
The sentence for Gregory Kornman followed the probation department’s recommendation but was less than the 18 years and four months maximum sentence he could have received.
The investigation began in March when court records show a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy noticed the 55-year-old engaging in lewd conduct in his vehicle in Nipomo.
Thousands of images of child pornography were reportedly found on Kornman’s cell phone and home computer, according to the court documents, which state evidence showed he was also sending the images to other people.
Internet chats that the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office states Korman was a part of are so graphic and disturbing that KSBY has chosen not to go into detail about them in this article.
“The facts of this case – the evidence seized including the defendant’s own statements about his desires and intent – are extremely shocking. With that in mind, the People have a very grave concern about the safety of any young children who may come within the vicinity of the defendant. While possession of child pornography is considered superficially as a passive ‘crime of the mind,’ it is not any less serious or egregious than direct person-to-person child sexual molestation contact. Every single child who was harmed during the production of child pornography was grievously harmed at the time and is again exploited every time it is viewed, consumed, or transmitted,” court documents read, stating the District Attorney’s office’s side of the case.
The DA was requesting that Kornman be sentenced to 13 years.
Korman had previously worked as a substitute teacher in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District for grades K-8, last being employed with Santa Maria-Bonita on Jan. 27, but was not affiliated with the district at the time of his arrest, the district told KSBY.
