Long Beach Man, a Teacher, Pleads No Contest to Possessing Child Porn

A former middle school teacher pleaded no contest today to possessing child pornography.

Superior Court Judge Laura Laesecke immediately sentenced Aaron Paul Widera, 39, to two years and eight months in prison following his plea to one felony count each of possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct and sending/bringing obscene matter into the state for sale, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The judge also ordered Widera to register as a sex offender and for his computer to be destroyed.

Prosecutors said Widera revealed on a messaging site that he possessed a large collection of child pornography, and made it known that he had a social media profile where child pornography images could be downloaded.

Widera was arrested last Aug. 23 after police served a search warrant at his home, where video and images of child pornography were discovered.

Widera taught math at South Junior High School in Anaheim, but is no longer employed by the school district, a spokeswoman said.

--City News Service