Ex-Willow Glen coach set for sentencing in lurid photo case
SAN JOSE >> A disgraced former teacher and crosscountry coach at Willow Glen Middle School is expected to serve no more than six months in jail after being convicted of collecting child porn and taking sexually provocative photos of his students.
Clifford Pappadakis, 47, of San Jose, pleaded no contest last month to one felony charge of possessing child pornography and seven misdemeanor charges of annoying or molesting a child, according to court records.
Pappadakis is expected to be sentenced to four to six months in county jail at his Sept. 25 sentencing hearing presided by Judge Arthur Bocanegra. Restricted movement or confinement and electronic monitoring — like an ankle bracelet — is also being considered in lieu of physically serving a jail sentence.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office pushed for concrete jail time given the na-
ture of Pappadakis’ crimes.
“The People objected and are seeking actual jail time due to the defendant’s role as a teacher, his violation of a position of trust, and his brazen conduct in this case,” Deputy District Attorney Michael Gilman said.
Pappadakis’ attorney, Steven Clark, declined comment on the case, citing the upcoming sentencing.
Pappadakis, whom the school hired in August 2006, worked as both a physical education teacher and coach for runners. The San Jose Unified School District said it received a parent complaint on Sept. 7, 2017, and put Pappadakis on paid leave the next day, and unpaid leave Oct. 20. He was fired Dec. 31.
According to the police report, a parent reported that at a school swim practice Pappadakis was known to hold for his runners, she saw him “focus his camera on the back side of a sophomore girl who was wearing a skimpy bikini.”
The principal took Pappadakis’ school-issued laptop computer, which had a USB drive attached, according to the police report. Pappadakis reportedly “broke down” when confronted by the principal, and acknowledged that “there were pictures on there that he would not put on the school website” and said “this is my career.”
The report added that the principal performed a cursory examination of the coach’s computer and saw inappropriate images of school girls but not nude photos. Investigators later examined the files and found numerous crudely captioned images of adolescent and prepubescent girls in sexually suggestive poses.
Pappadakis was arrested Feb. 14, and has since been free on supervised release.
The episode also raised questions about whether the school was legally obligated to notify police after an earlier incident in April 2017 when Principal Paul Slayton reportedly noticed Pappadakis “was said to have taken an unusual amount of photos at events and of cheerleaders,” and “told him to stop taking pictures.”
The school district confirmed that account of events, and ultimately concluded that Slayton at the time “had no reason to suspect any nefarious intent.”
In a bizarre coincidence, Pappadakis’ twin brother, Clinton, a long-time track coach at Oak Grove High School, was arrested a week after his brother, on suspicion of child-porn possession. Clinton Pappadakis’ purchase of a child-like sex doll, spurred a completely unrelated investigation into his activities. He is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 1 for a plea hearing.