Former Palm Beach County substitute teacher sentenced for obtaining, sharing child porn
A former substitute teacher for Palm Beach County schools was sentenced to nine years in federal prison last week after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography.
Kemal Yaslowitz, who worked as a substitute teacher for the school district from 2009 until this year, was arrested in April after he offered to send photos and videos of children being sexually abused to a person he met online. The person was an FBI agent.
Agents said the 50-year-old Yaslowitz stored hundreds of pornographic photos and videos on electronic devices at his apartment off Lake Worth Road near Florida’s Turnpike. In court filings, they said he shared 189 sexually explicit videos on social media, showing children being forced to have sex.
Middle school teacher's arrest: Ex-Jupiter teacher gets 3 years in prison for sex with minor; student sues school board
Student's arrest: From FAU dorm, he befriended them online and made child porn via Instagram, Snapchat, FaceTime
Virtually a life term: 50-year sentence for Greenacres man who pleaded guilty to soliciting lewd photos of boy
Defense says actions occurred as man changed medications for mental illness
In seeking leniency for Yaslowitz, attorney Michael Salnick told U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg that his client has long struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed as bipolar when he was 21, Yaslowitz has tried to find the right combination of medication and therapy to live a normal life.
When Yaslowitz became fixated on child pornography he found online, he was in the process of changing medications, Salnick said in court records. The switch altered his behavior.
Salnick emphasized that Yaslowitz took full responsibility for his actions and wasn’t blaming drugs or his mental illness. But, he said, both explain why he engaged in “such high risk, irresponsible and seemingly unexplainable behaviors.”
Further, he said, Yaslowitz didn’t intend to hurt any child. “What began as Kemal Yaslowitz doing something, albeit illegal, in the privacy of his own company with no intention to touch, communicate with or meet a child has resulted in his life being changed forever,” he wrote.
Two women tell judge how sharing of photos online perpetuates their abuse
Two women who were sexually assaulted as children by men who took pictures and videos of their assaults and posted them online wrote letters to Rosenberg. The women explained the never-ending trauma they experience, knowing their photos are still being circulated.
“I would like to be able to feel confident about myself, to feel deserving of love, to be able to express my love for others, and to banish my fears and insecurities," wrote one woman, identified only as Henley. "I don't know if those things are possible, as long as images of my childhood sexual abuse continue to be downloaded and possessed by strangers.”
The nine-year sentence Rosenberg imposed is roughly half as long as the maximum 15 1/2-year sentence she could have imposed. After he is released, Yaslowitz will serve 15 years of probation. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
Jane Musgrave covers federal and civil courts and occasionally ventures into criminal trials in state court. Contact her at jmusgrave@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge sentences former Florida substitute teacher on child-porn charges
