School’s fallout over man’s troubled past
A San Francisco man who pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography subsequently served as a scorekeeper during at least one basketball game at Convent & Stuart Hall before his sentencing, the school confirmed.
Eugene Jung, 50, was one of more than 300 people netted in a 2018 federal bust of what was then described as the world’s largest child exploitation market, a darknet site called Welcome to Video.
Those arrested in the operation were the alleged operator and users of site, which proclaimed to offer child porn in exchange for bitcoin.
Jung, who is free on bail, pleaded guilty to his charges in December 2019 but later attended at least one Convent & Stuart Hall high school basketball game as scorekeeper, school officials confirmed. Jung’s son was on the team at the time, school officials confirmed.
He served as scorekeeper at “a dozen or so” games in total, school President Ann Marie Krejcarek said in an email to
The Chronicle. The most recent game was in March 2020, months after he had pleaded guilty to possessing child porn.
Krejcarek said Jung did the scorekeeping “at or behind the scorer’s table, in public view.” She did not respond to followup questions about the dates of other games Jung attended.
“We have interviewed a variety of staff members of the school and thus far have not identified any other activity by this individual related to the school,” Krejcarek said. “This is what we know as of now, but we are continuing to gather information.”
Jung was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possession of child pornography and receipt of child pornography in October 2018. Those charges each carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
Court records show Jung was released from custody on a $300,000 bond and surrendered his passport, but other conditions of his release remain under seal.
Jung pleaded guilty to the two charges about a year later, on Dec. 17, 2019.
A sentencing hearing was repeatedly delayed over the past year, however, and is now scheduled for May 17.
Krejcarek said the school was not alerted by law enforcement about Jung’s charges or his plea.
School officials were made aware of the case only in the past three weeks after an email from a parent, Krejcarek said.
Jung has been publicly tied to the case since at least 2019, after the Justice Department published a news release about charges stemming from the Welcome to Video bust that included Jung’s name.
It’s unlikely that Jung will be allowed to attend future events, Krejcarek said, adding that school officials would make that determination shortly.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment for this story.
Jung’s attorney, Douglas Horngrad, declined to comment on most of The Chronicle’s questions about Jung’s legal situation, but said as far as he knew, his client had complied with his terms of release.
Attorney Tony Brass, a former federal prosecutor, said it’s highly unlikely any judge would have allowed a child porn defendant to attend an event involving minors.
“There’s no way he’s allowed to be near children in a school,” Brass said. “Even though he hasn’t been sentenced yet, the conditions of his pretrial would not allow him to be there.”
Jung is also not registered as a sex offender, but is not required to do so until after his sentencing.
Brass said it’s not unusual for a defendant’s sentencing to be delayed for several months. In such cases, the defendant may be receiving treatment or cooperating with authorities.
The delayed sentencing would not have changed the defendant’s release conditions, though, Brass said, which could include orders forbidding proximity to children or minors.
“I’m as sure as I am about anything in the law — there is no way a judge is saying to the parents of Stuart Hall, ‘They’ll be fine’ ” with Jung attending games, Brass said. “There’s just no way.”