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NewsWednesday, November 28, 2007 6:32 PM CST
Child porn charges dropped after fed indictment of sub teacher
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BLOOMINGTON — Child pornography charges filed in McLean County against a substitute teacher have been dismissed as a result of federal indictments handed down in Peoria.

Scott W. Southerland, 49, remains in federal custody until a hearing in federal district court to consider the issue of bond. No date has been set for the Peoria bond hearing.

He was arrested last week in southern Indiana on federal child pornography charges.

The federal indictments issued Tuesday accuse the Bloomington man of receipt and possession of child pornography.

If convicted on the charges, Southerland could face as much as 20 years in prison and fines of $250,000.

The four McLean County counts were filed in September after Southerland’s housekeeper reported to police that she found pornographic images depicting children while cleaning his home. He had been free on $2,500 bond in the local case.

Southerland’s teaching career included a full-time assignment as a fourth-grade teacher at Atlanta Elementary School in 2000 and as a substitute teacher in District 87 and Unit 5; Colfax-based Ridgeview; Farmer City-based Blue Ridge; and Pontiac Elementary.

His name has been removed from substitute teaching lists since his arrest.

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