Bend HS teacher arraigned on 24 child porn counts

(Update: School district says Jackson on unpaid leave, doing their own investigation)

A Bend Senior High School English teacher was arraigned Thursday on an expanded list of 24 charges that he illegally downloaded child pornography photos and videos on his home computer.

Jason Brian Jackson, 50, appeared before Deschutes County Circuit Judge Raymond Crutchley with defense attorney Todd Grover and his wife by his side. He declined to answer questions on the way out of the courthouse.

At Deputy District Attorney Matthew Nelson’s request, Crutchley doubled Jackson’s bail, to $100,000 and ordered that he wear a GPS tracking monitor.

Grover, meanwhile, asked the judge to limit the restriction of no contact with minors because Jackson has a 14-year-old and 16-year-old that he wishes to keep in contact with.

The indictment includes 12 counts each of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse (for duplicating images) and 12 second-degree charge (for viewing the material), on dates between Jan. 24 and May 14.

Jackson was arrested June 6 on an initial six charges of encouraging child sex abuse after police said they learned child pornography was being downloaded at a home on SW Brookside Way. A raid on the home turned up evidence that led to seizure of two computers and the arrest of Jackson at Bend police headquarters.

Nelson told the judge Thursday that Jackson admitted to downloading the images and videos to police, with some videos showing minors under the age of 18 performing sexual acts.

The Oregon Department of Human Services has launched their own investigation into the matter, the prosecutor said.

Crutchley scheduled a plea hearing for Aug. 9 at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Stephen Forte.

Jackson remains on unpaid administrative leave from his teaching position, a Bend-La Pine Schools spokeswoman said Thursday.

She said they’re watching the criminal investigation closely, and are doing their own internal investigation.