Former Columbus HS teacher sentenced for taking 'upskirt' videos of students, in stores
A once-respected chemistry teacher at Columbus Alternative High School, Justin Robert Foley was "addicted to the thrill" of capturing videos up the skirts of teenage students, in department store dressing rooms and in the city of Delaware where he lived, according to his attorney.
Although Foley never shared the videos, he knows what he did was an "unfathomable violation of trust," said Soumyajit Dutta, a federal public defense attorney representing Foley.
Foley, 48, of Delaware, Ohio, appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Columbus in a jail uniform and chains for sentencing after he admitted guilt in May 2023 to charges of taking voyeuristic videos and possessing thousands of child sexual abuse images on his electronic devices. He took the videos from between approximately June 2018 and September 2022, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson sentenced Foley to 20 years in prison — the maximum recommended under Foley's plea agreement with federal prosecutors — and 20 years of supervised release.
Foley resigned his advanced placement teaching position with Columbus City Schools in October 2022 after the district began the process to discharge him.
"You've lost your job, you've lost your marriage and you're looking at a long time in prison," Watson said. "Where do you get the idea that it's OK to upskirt your students? Where do you get the idea that it's OK to surreptitiously go into a dressing room and put a camera up somewhere?"
"Of course it's not OK," Foley replied. He said he's still trying to understand why he did it.
"I don't understand myself how I let myself do that, knowing that it wasn't legal or moral or right," Foley said.
Dutta said Foley's stepfather abused him when he was a teenager and he grew up damaged.
"This is a form of addiction," Dutta said. "It started in one way and morphed into other things along the way. So for him, the addiction was the thrill of the capture, if you will, judge. I'm not trying to be crass."
Dutta said that Foley never attempted to touch students.
Foley took the voyeuristic videos between approximately June 2018 and September 2022, according to court records. Foley would then take screenshots from the videos.
According to federal prosecuting attorneys, investigators have identified 11 student victims, but added that there were many others. One of those victims requested $4,740 in restitution for medical expenses, including therapy copays. Watson ordered the restitution, which will come out of Foley's wages from prison work.
Jennifer Rausch, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said in court that many of the students Foley videotaped have suffered from anxiety and fear as a result.
Authorities also found thousands of images of child sexual abuse material on Foley's electronic devices that Foley did not produce, but that he downloaded.
According to Rausch, Foley said he was interested in looking at images of women who looked young, but convinced himself they were 18. Raush said one of the children in those explicit images was between 5 and 6 years old.
If you believe you were a victim of or the parent of a potential victim of Foley’s conduct, the U.S. Attorney's office in Columbus has said that you can call 614-901-6883.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ex-Columbus HS teacher gets 20 years for taking 'upskirt' images
