Ex-middle school teacher charged with having naked photos of teen wins delay in trial
A former Lincoln Memorial Middle School teacher’s defense attorney was not prepared for topless photos of a 16-year-old girl police said they found on his iPhone to be used against him at trial.
The trial of Quentin Peterson, 24, charged with two counts of possession of child pornography was scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, but has now been delayed to March.
The two photos Peterson is charged with possessing show the 16-year-old girl topless. In one, she is lying on top of Peterson in bed while kissing with a bed sheet covering them from the waist down. The other shows her posing in a suggestive manner.
Peterson’s defense attorney, Debora Moss, sought to prevent prosecutors from being able to present other images found by police on Peterson’s iPhone and laptop at trial, claiming they were irrelevant and would deny him a fair trial.
“A picture coming off that iPhone to me is very damaging to my defense,” Moss said. “I would have to try to figure out how that would have happened. She does say, ‘That I put pictures on his phone.’”
The pictures in question show the girl topless, but Moss said it appeared they may be from Snapchat. Circuit Judge Lon Arend denied the defense’s motion, finding that the photos were intricately intertwined with those that led to his arrest.
Police found the photos after securing a search warrant and having Peterson’s phones and lap top forensically analyzed. Allegations that Peterson was having an inappropriate relationship with another girl sparked the investigation that ultimately led police to seek the warrant.
The former music teacher had been removed from the school in April 2017 when the allegations first surfaced, and he later resigned in September of that year.
Peterson is not facing criminal charges for possessing the other photos because legally they are considered child erotica, not child pornography.
Despite the state having properly filed an intent to use the images during the trial, Moss had not realized that and was not prepared for the three images found on Peterson’s iPhone to be used against him to help prove the state’s case.
“These photos, if they were admitted, I do think would be devastating to the defense that been prepared for by the defense at this time and that it would be an error not to give them an opportunity to look into that,” Arend ruled. “They are going to affect your ability to defend this case.”
Moss said she may also seek to hire an expert for Peterson’s defense.
Arend granted the continuance over prosecutors’ objection. The case is now set to go to trial during the two-week trial period that begins March 16.
“Over your objection, I am going to grant the continue in an abundance of caution. I think it’s the right thing to do so we don’t try the case multiple times,” Arend said.
If convicted as charged, Peterson faces up to 10 years in prison.
