Report: West Springfield Students Pleading 'Not Guilty' to Child Porn Charges

The teenage boys from West Springfield High School charged with child pornography have pleaded not guilty to the charges, their lawyers tell The Washington Post.

The boys, one age 15 and two age 16, were charged Jan. 11 by Fairfax County Police after a tip to a school security officer in November led to an investigation.

The boys reportedly videotaped six girls from West Springfield High School as well as Robinson Secondary School and Lake Braddock Secondary School, according to the Post story.

"It's an unfortunate mix of teenage libido, alcohol and video. It's nothing more than that," Rodney Leffler, one of the boy's attorneys, told the newspaper.

On Monday, West Springfield's principal sent an email to parents:

Letter sent to West Springfield High School parents:

Dear WSHS Parents & Guardians,

Many of you may have heard through various news reports over the weekend that several West Springfield High School students were arrested here at school on January 11 in connection with their involvement in a child exploitation case. As this is an ongoing police investigation, we are directing all questions about the arrests to Fairfax County Police. I want to be very clear that while arrests were made here at school the students did not engage in any of these alleged behaviors at school or during school hours. The charges that are pending all revolve around alleged inappropriate activity that occurred outside of school over an extended period of time.

The allegations were first brought to the attention of School Resource Officer Plazio in November and the police investigation was subsequently launched. Our task is to maintain business as usual at WSHS. We are here to care for and educate all our students. I want to express my regrets that our school was dragged into this story. The reports clearly do not reflect the positive learning environment that students, parents and staff have created at our school. Thank you for your continued support of WSHS.

Respectfully,

Mark Greenfelder, Principal 

Fairfax County School Board member Elizabeth Schultz took issue with the students being arrested at school, telling FOX 5: "The public school can't be used as an extension of the criminal justice system."