Judge grants bond to principal charged with child porn
ORLANDO — Despite admitting reservations concerning the safety of the community, US magistrate judge Gregory J. Kelly granted bond to a Brevard County elementary school principal facing child pornography charges.
He also told 59-year-old Ricky Sheppard of Melbourne that if and when he is released he would have to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, avoid alcohol and the Internet, have a 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. curfew and no contact alone with children as well as other conditions. There was no monetary amount attached to Sheppard's bond. He simply had to agree to the judge's conditions.
"The danger he presents to the community is considerable," the judge said, before adding that he felt assured the conditions of the bond would ensure safety.
The judge also named Sheppard's sister and next-door neighbor Tammy Calhoun-Kelley as the third-part custodian, making her responsible for making sure he follows conditions of the bond.
This did not sit well with prosecutor Ilianys Rivera Miranda, who asked Calhoun-Kelley if she would be concerned with leaving Sheppard alone with her two young grandchildren if she knew the charges to be factual.
"No I wouldn't," the woman replied.
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"She would not protect her own grandchildren for him," Miranda said. "She is too biased in the protection of her brother."
Sheppard, a longtime educator who was promoted from teacher to assistant principal at different schools before being named principal last year at Spessard Holland Elementary School in Satellite Beach, was arrested Friday (June 3) on federal charges of possessing child pornography. He refused to comment to investigators about the charges but did admit that his wireless internet connection is password protected and that he lived alone.
He was promoted last year despite a 1999 reprimand letter in his file for inappropriate comments made to a six-year-old student at Gemini Elementary School in Melbourne Beach. He was also ordered to stop lavishing gifts upon the boy. The school district said reprimand letters are not looked at when considering promotions, a policy that is now changing.
Michael Mazzone, a digital forensic specialist with the Brevard County sheriffs office, testified that he discovered hundreds of images of child pornography as well as thousands of videos depicting child pornography on Sheppard's two desktop computers and external hard drives at his home.
According to Mazzone, some of the videos he discovered involved children as young as four years old and at least one contained bestiality.
"The forensic investigation is going to be ongoing for quite a while," Mazzone said. "The majority of the child pornography contains young boys."
Mazzone also revealed that Sheppard taught sexual education to fifth grade students even though he was the school's principal.
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"He is sexually interested in children," prosecutor Miranda said. "He put himself in the position to teach sexual education. When you tie it all together it proves that he is a danger to the children in this community".
Sheppard's attorney, James W. Smith III, called the government's case against his client totally circumstantial and inferred that anyone could have gone onto Sheppard's computers and downloaded the illegal porn.
Contact Torres at 321-242-3684 or at jtorres@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FTjohntorres