American expat Eric Erdmann arrested in Phnom Penh
batty .. stay off this thread and get back in your cage.
Final warning.
Final warning.
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By the way, the references on pages 2 and 9 of the USA's sentencing memorandum are the first "official" confirmation that Erdmann was teaching at Home of English, and he also said he was teaching children as young as 13.
As a trip down memory lane, when I contacted Home of English by email shortly after Erdmann's arrest to ask if he worked there and what their policies were on hiring pedophiles and performing background checks, I got a bizarre and hostile response:
I wonder if HOE has since changed its policy about hiring teachers part time, and then later doing background checks on them if they are hired full time. Why wouldn't a Western-run school for children in Cambodia do background checks on ALL teachers, full time and part time? Does that cost too much money?
As a trip down memory lane, when I contacted Home of English by email shortly after Erdmann's arrest to ask if he worked there and what their policies were on hiring pedophiles and performing background checks, I got a bizarre and hostile response:
I wonder if HOE has since changed its policy about hiring teachers part time, and then later doing background checks on them if they are hired full time. Why wouldn't a Western-run school for children in Cambodia do background checks on ALL teachers, full time and part time? Does that cost too much money?
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Perhaps you should email Home of English again and ask them also why they lied about hiring Erdmann. Is it common practice for schools to have no background checks on its teachers and then, when informed that they've hired an on-the-run sex offender, blatantly lie about it and label the purveyor of bad news as 'ants need to be put in their place.'
It's not like it's a rare occurance. Even the best schools have fallen into the trap.
It's not like it's a rare occurance. Even the best schools have fallen into the trap.
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No they didn't really lie, they were just hanging their hat on the fact that he hadn't been teaching pre-school, which is one of the questions I initially asked them. Then they were rather evasive about the rest, smugly saying that no one named Erdmann worked there "full time," which is not a question I had asked.
How much money do you think a school like that would save by blowing off background checks on part time teachers and just throwing them into a classroom with children? 200 bucks a year?
How much money do you think a school like that would save by blowing off background checks on part time teachers and just throwing them into a classroom with children? 200 bucks a year?
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Eric Erdmann was sentenced yesterday. The documentation of the sentencing is here.
The lawyers made arguments about the sentence, and then Erdmann made a statement to the judge on his own behalf. I will assume he expressed remorse and did not rant against the government like a crazy person.
Over Erdmann's lawyer's objection, the judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison, which was the term of imprisonment requested by the prosecution.
His date of conviction was March 27, 2017, and he has been in custody since then. 21 months from the date of Erdmann's conviction will be December 27, 2018. However, he will likely get a reduction of his sentence of about two and half months for good behavior in prison. That means that Erdmann should get out of prison in mid-October, 2018.
The prosecution asked for ten years' probation following his incarceration. The judge sentenced him to five years' probation. As special conditions of his probation, he's not allowed to be around minors or to use or possess a computer or smart phone during the probation period without written permission of his probation officer. He can't use or possess any internet capable device, flash drive, electronic storage device, etc. He is subject to searches of his residence for such devices during his probation period.
That seems really harsh to me. Possessing child pornography is a computer-related offense, but failing to register as a sex offender is not. I mean, I remember when people were convicted of computer hacking in the 1990's, they would be ordered not to use computers for a while, and that seemed reasonable. But Erdmann is a guy who was caught with a relatively small number of child pornography images on his computer in 2007, and now he's going to be prohibited from using or possessing a computer until almost 2024, unless his probation officer agrees to it.
It's hard to find a job without a computer. It's hard to keep in contact with your wife in Cambodia and other friends and family across the USA without a computer. It's hard to play modern, weirdo sniper video games without an internet-capable device. It will probably be hard to buy a toaster in 2021 that isn't a SMART toaster. We use computers to keep abreast of world news, find our doctors, buy stuff a reasonable prices, take higher education classes, date adult members of the opposite sex, check our bank balances, book transportation, pay utilities bills, etc. I'm not sure that forcing sex offenders to live off grid like the Unabomber fifteen years after their offense is the best way to rehabilitate them.
Lastly, the judge also ruled that Erdmann's sentence be served "concurrently with the state term of imprisonment anticipated in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Portland, Oregon 09-0130068." That means he won't have to do additional time in Oregon unless he's sentenced to more than 21 months there for fleeing his probation (highly unlikely). During or shortly after his term of federal imprisonment, he should be able to file something with the Oregon court (or go to Oregon and appear before the court) and get those charges and warrant resolved without additional punishment.
If he's not blacklisted by Cambodia, he might be able to legally return here by late 2023. It's unclear if Home of English would rehire him.
The lawyers made arguments about the sentence, and then Erdmann made a statement to the judge on his own behalf. I will assume he expressed remorse and did not rant against the government like a crazy person.
Over Erdmann's lawyer's objection, the judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison, which was the term of imprisonment requested by the prosecution.
His date of conviction was March 27, 2017, and he has been in custody since then. 21 months from the date of Erdmann's conviction will be December 27, 2018. However, he will likely get a reduction of his sentence of about two and half months for good behavior in prison. That means that Erdmann should get out of prison in mid-October, 2018.
The prosecution asked for ten years' probation following his incarceration. The judge sentenced him to five years' probation. As special conditions of his probation, he's not allowed to be around minors or to use or possess a computer or smart phone during the probation period without written permission of his probation officer. He can't use or possess any internet capable device, flash drive, electronic storage device, etc. He is subject to searches of his residence for such devices during his probation period.
That seems really harsh to me. Possessing child pornography is a computer-related offense, but failing to register as a sex offender is not. I mean, I remember when people were convicted of computer hacking in the 1990's, they would be ordered not to use computers for a while, and that seemed reasonable. But Erdmann is a guy who was caught with a relatively small number of child pornography images on his computer in 2007, and now he's going to be prohibited from using or possessing a computer until almost 2024, unless his probation officer agrees to it.
It's hard to find a job without a computer. It's hard to keep in contact with your wife in Cambodia and other friends and family across the USA without a computer. It's hard to play modern, weirdo sniper video games without an internet-capable device. It will probably be hard to buy a toaster in 2021 that isn't a SMART toaster. We use computers to keep abreast of world news, find our doctors, buy stuff a reasonable prices, take higher education classes, date adult members of the opposite sex, check our bank balances, book transportation, pay utilities bills, etc. I'm not sure that forcing sex offenders to live off grid like the Unabomber fifteen years after their offense is the best way to rehabilitate them.
Lastly, the judge also ruled that Erdmann's sentence be served "concurrently with the state term of imprisonment anticipated in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Portland, Oregon 09-0130068." That means he won't have to do additional time in Oregon unless he's sentenced to more than 21 months there for fleeing his probation (highly unlikely). During or shortly after his term of federal imprisonment, he should be able to file something with the Oregon court (or go to Oregon and appear before the court) and get those charges and warrant resolved without additional punishment.
If he's not blacklisted by Cambodia, he might be able to legally return here by late 2023. It's unclear if Home of English would rehire him.
Last edited by gavinmac on Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Probably wouldn't hire him full-timegavinmac wrote: It's unclear if Home of English would rehire him.
Q: Why do neither of the links in the OP show a photo?
The facebook one is gone, and the other has data, but no photo.
The facebook one is gone, and the other has data, but no photo.
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I agree that the whole computer thing is a bit weird. Couldn't they just sell/rent him a government owned traceable computer which sends back data to them? That plus random searches for extra devices now and then seems "fairer". As you say, I don't think you'd find many people who would agree that having no computer makes life easy. The only people who don't any of these sorts of devices are old people and weird technophobe "off the grid" types who live in the woods awaiting the apocalypse.
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I would agree, if I were Erdmann I would ask the probation officer from some kind of supervised/monitored internet access.LexusSchmexus wrote:I agree that the whole computer thing is a bit weird. Couldn't they just sell/rent him a government owned traceable computer which sends back data to them? That plus random searches for extra devices now and then seems "fairer".
I don't know that the government provides traceable computers, Erdmann might have to make a pitch to the officer that he has contacted a private service that stops him from accessing child porn.
Perhaps the government would be concerned that even "safe sites" could be abused, I mean if you access yahoo you could receive emailed porn through that site, use it to contact children, it really is harder to regulate than just putting some kind of nannynet device on the computer that blocks the sex offender from visiting underagethaigirls.com or something.
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It strikes me as an archaic ruling. Maybe 10-15 years ago it would have been appropriate but nowadays phones, TV's, e-readers, iPods are all connected to the web. You'd really have to go out of your way to avoid web connection. And as you say, it's only getting more connected with every passing year.
Even essential services like social services and tax returns are largely done online...
Was the judge a crusty septuagenarian?
Even essential services like social services and tax returns are largely done online...
Was the judge a crusty septuagenarian?
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The judge is a 55 year old Obama appointee. However, she is also a female woman and spent 13 years as a prosecutor, so maybe she's not the best judge for a child sex offender to appear before.
She is known to be particularly tech savvy.
She is known to be particularly tech savvy.
Judge Chappell is also at the forefront of integrating the latest technology to the federal bench. She is an active member of the Federal Judicial Center's ("FJC") Information Technology Advisory Committee and delivers IT training nationally to fellow district judges, newly appointed magistrate judges, and other court personnel for both the FJC and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Judge Chappell has further authored several IT tutorials and other documents on efficient management techniques and procedures for judges using technology. She was recently named to the National District and Bankruptcy NextGen of CM/ECF Working Group.
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Those female women are the worst!!
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
"As far as we knew, the only thing he was guilty of was being a bad teacher."
When you don't require criminal record checks from employees, or bother to do your own due diligence, you never know what they might be guilty of.
When you don't require criminal record checks from employees, or bother to do your own due diligence, you never know what they might be guilty of.
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Here's the link to full Cambodia Daily article:
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/depo ... et-132656/
This "Michael Billington" guys seems to be a real piece of work. I understand that his name is Steve and he alternates between using the name Steve and Michael, which is not weird at all.
I heard last year that Erdmann was working at Home of English and was on leave due to his accident when the news broke that he was wanted on child pornography charges. Erdmann confirmed to the U.S. government that he was working at Home of English. When I emailed Home of English a year ago and asked if Eric Erdmann worked there, "Michael" Billington responded:
"We don't just hire anyone. We might hire someone part-time and we investigate them before we hire them full-time. We've never had a full time teacher here named Erdmann. No man named Erdmann has ever been within fifty feet of preschool."
Now a year later, he tells the Daily that Erdmann never worked there at all, that he merely "tested" there and was rejected.
Home of English hired a fugitive pedophile without doing a background check. Crappy excuse #1 was "He wasn't a full time teacher." Dishonest excuse #2 is "We never hired him at all."
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/depo ... et-132656/
This "Michael Billington" guys seems to be a real piece of work. I understand that his name is Steve and he alternates between using the name Steve and Michael, which is not weird at all.
I heard last year that Erdmann was working at Home of English and was on leave due to his accident when the news broke that he was wanted on child pornography charges. Erdmann confirmed to the U.S. government that he was working at Home of English. When I emailed Home of English a year ago and asked if Eric Erdmann worked there, "Michael" Billington responded:
"We don't just hire anyone. We might hire someone part-time and we investigate them before we hire them full-time. We've never had a full time teacher here named Erdmann. No man named Erdmann has ever been within fifty feet of preschool."
Now a year later, he tells the Daily that Erdmann never worked there at all, that he merely "tested" there and was rejected.
Home of English hired a fugitive pedophile without doing a background check. Crappy excuse #1 was "He wasn't a full time teacher." Dishonest excuse #2 is "We never hired him at all."
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