19 felonies dropped against ex-Atascadero teacher accused of filming girls in his class
A San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ordered nearly half of the 44 felony charges dropped against a former Atascadero teacher accused of secretly filming girls in his sixth-grade class and using the footage to make child porn.
Chris Lynn Berdoll, 51, was an instructor at the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy before he was placed on leave and later arrested on Sept. 10, 2018. He resigned later that month.
Prior to a series of defense challenges to the Atascadero Police Department’s investigation of the case over the summer, Berdoll had been charged by the District Attorney’s Office with 24 felony charges of using a minor for a sex act and 20 felony counts of possession of child pornography.
In April, Superior Court Judge Jesse Marino rejected a motion filed by defense attorney Ilan Funke-Bilu that sought to suppress all evidence investigators obtained from Berdoll’s Google Pixel 2 cell phone and smart watch, as well as any observations made by the arresting officers and any statements made by Berdoll, due to an alleged illegal search.
But in August, Marino granted a defense motion to sever the prosecution’s complaint against Berdoll, essentially dismissing 19 of the 20 felony charges of possession of child pornography.
In the motion first filed in November 2019 and resubmitted in May, Funke-Bilu cited case law that differentiated between the production and the possession of child pornography.
In his motion, Funke-Bilu wrote that all of the alleged images of child pornography involved in the case came from a single search of Berdoll’s home.
“Nine devices were seized at the time and place. One possession equals one charge,” he wrote. “The statutory focus in (the law) is on the defendant’s possession, not the individually, identifiable minors who are victimized by each separate possessor.”
After granting the motion, Marino ordered the county District Attorney’s Office to file an amended complaint that includes 24 felony charges of using a minor for a sex act, and one felony charge of child pornography.
It’s not clear what maximum sentence Berdoll could face if convicted of all charges. A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Berdoll remains out of County Jail custody after posting $500,000 bail.
He had taught at the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy since August 2011 before going on paid administrative leave on Aug. 31, 2018, prior to arrest Sept. 14, 2018. He formally resigned from his position on Sept. 27, 2018.
He’s accused of committing the crimes against 14 of his adolescent female students between September 2017 and August 2018.
A Title IX report detailing the Atascadero Unified School District’s investigation described at least seven instances in the first two weeks of the school year in August 2018 in which Berdoll allegedly used his smartphone or tablet to record the backsides, legs, and crotches of female students in his sixth-grade math class.
In each of the scenarios described in the report, Berdoll clandestinely recorded his students so brazenly that at times he ended up touching their bodies or clothing in the process.
In September 2019, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing in which testimony and evidence against him would have been presented in open court, and his attorney would have cross-examined witnesses.
A trial-setting conference scheduled for Tuesday was continued and a new court date has yet to be scheduled.
