Former preschool teacher Edgar L. Selavka will spend one year in jail after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.
Selavka, 50, worked with young children at the People's Institute and the Center for Early Childhood Education at Smith College. He was also the director of Christian education at Edwards Church.
He pleaded guilty to 11 counts of possession of child pornography in Hampshire Superior Court. Selavka was sentenced today to 21/2 years in the Hampshire County Correctional Center, with one year to be served and the rest suspended with seven years of probation.
Selavka stood and addressed the judge, apologizing to "the citizens of my community," his friends who had to read about his acts in the newspaper, his family "who had their names tarnished," "my ex-wife who knew nothing about this," and his daughter who has had to deal with losing a close relationship with her father and with a disruption of her world.
He also apologized to the parents of his students, to his students and to the "the thousands and thousands of excellent teachers" who face a stigma when something like this happens.
Selavka said he grieves for the children exploited in the pictures he possessed, saying he feels guilt that he never thought about their exploitation.
Selavka was arrested after a security guard at Thornes Marketplace found his backpack in a men's rest room there, with its contents strewn about. In addition to Selavka's wallet, there were numerous photographs of naked children, some depicting them in sexual acts with adults. Selavka had reported it stolen.
Defense lawyer Michael O. Jennings unsuccessfully asked Carhart to not incarcerate Selavka but to sentence him to probation, so he can continue with sex offender treatment.
Conditions of probation once Selavka is released from jail include that he continue sex offender treatment; continue his current medications; continue substance abuse counseling; and have no unsupervised contact with minors.
