Ex-teacher facing child pornography charges
A former Broward middle school teacher is accused of possessing and sharing an estimated 800 pictures and videos of child pornography through social media, according to the Broward Sheriff ’s Office.
Ronald Scott Sherman, 55, of Pompano Beach, taught at Apollo Middle School in Hollywood before resigning. The images were found among about 4,000 pictures and videos “reblogged” through his Tumblr account since December 2016, detectives said.
Investigators said Sherman admitted to “rapid fire” sharing of files from other Tumblr blogs without looking at most of them and that those images of children that he saw were “not sexual” and were “considered art.”
Some of the pictures and videos showed girls as young as 3 years old exposing themselves and engaging in sexual activities with other young girls and men, according to court documents filed in the case.
The documents had transcripts of conversations between Sherman and an unidentified blogger that showed the two explicitly lusting after the young girls depicted in the images and videos.
Among the comments detectives attributed to Sherman:
“I love em young! Delicious! Wow, I really love your blog!” “Omg! Heaven!” Tumblr officials noticed the activity in January, closed Sherman’s account, and notified law enforcement.
Sherman was arrested Thursday and is facing a dozen charges related to child pornography. He is being held on bonds totaling $240,000, jail records showed.
During a first appearance court hearing Friday, the attorney representing Sherman — Nondace Levy — asked for a much lower bond, stressing that her client has no criminal record and that the case is about images and not about contact with minors.
“There’s been no allegation that there’s been any sort of physical contact with anybody,” Levy said.
But Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder noted Sherman had been a middle school teacher with access to children.
Broward Judge Kim Theresa Mollica ordered that if Sherman bonds out of jail he is prohibited from having contact with minors and cannot use any device with an internet connection.