Alex Eckelberry has the details.
After 4 years and 2 months, Julie Amero is now free.
You’ll recall that Julie Amero was convicted of 4 felony counts, each count carrying a maximum of 10 years, for exposing school children to pornography.
The reality is that Julie, a 40–year old, pregnant substitute teacher, found herself in a storm of popups and didn’t have any idea as to what was going on, or how to fix the situation.
There were numerous technical errors made during the trial, and I led a team of forensic investigators into analyzing a copy of the hard drive. We ultimately published a report which was used in Julie’s original conviction being overturned, for a new trial last June (I am seeing if I can get the report published).
This afternoon, at an empty Norwich Superior Court, Julie pled to the misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, in a deal negotiated by her pro-bono attorney, William Dow.
Her fine was a $100 charge, and her Connecticut teaching credentials are revoked (Julie told me she really doesn’t care, that she has no plans ever to teach in that state again).
Brain Krebs has background on Julie’s case here.
The fact the Julie was convicted of anything is sad testament to judicial system. She was put into a no win situation by a school system that failed to take the most basic risk mitigation steps and by investigators and prosecutors who don’t understand technology or malware. If not for the efforts of Mr. Eckelberry and others in the anti-malware industry Ms. Aremo would undoubtedly be in prison today.