Former Atascadero teacher sentenced to prison for taking indecent videos of girls in class
A former Atascadero teacher who secretly took indecent videos of girls in his class was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison on Thursday.
The sentence, imposed by Judge Jesse Marino against 52-year-old Chris Lynn Berdoll, was more lenient than what the San Luis Obispo County Probation Department had recommended after reviewing the case.
Berdoll was a teacher at the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy for seven years when accusations came to light in August 2018 that he was using his smartphone or tablet to record the backsides, legs and crotches of female students in his sixth-grade math class.
His penalty ultimately resulted in more prison time than Marino initially indicated that he’d hand down after Berdoll pleaded no contest to 25 charges — 24 of them for illegally photographing a minor under the age of 18 and a single count of possessing child pornography. The crimes involved 17 separate victims, according to a District Attorney’s Office news release.
Marino previously indicated he’d sentence Berdoll to three years in state prison, but probation recommended five years and eight months after its review of the case, Deputy District Attorney Danielle Baker, who prosecuted the case, told The Tribune in an email.
After considering the probation report and sentencing statements submitted by the District Attorney’s Office and defense attorney Ilan Funke-Bilu and hearing from some of the victims and their families, Marino changed his indicated sentence from three years in prison to four years and four months, Baker said in an email.
“Judge Marino gave Mr. Berdoll the opportunity to withdraw his plea as he was upping his original indicated, however Mr. Berdoll declined to withdraw his plea and instead continued forward with the sentence of four years and four months,” Baker said.
Baker had previously expressed interest in a plea agreement that would have resulted in more than seven years in state prison for Berdoll while telling Funke-Bilu she was open to negotiation, according to the court record of an email between the attorneys.
“At the time of the plea and again at the time of sentencing, the District Attorney’s Office objected to the three-year sentence indicated by the Judge and urged the Court to impose the maximum sentence of 19 years,” the DA’s Office news release noted.
But Marino issued his court-imposed sentence outside of any penalty agreement settled upon between the prosecution and defense.
Funke-Bilu told The Tribune that he discussed the sentence the judge was prepared to give with his client, who agreed to accept it on Thursday.
Several family members of the victims spoke at the sentencing, and Berdoll gave a statement as well, Funke-Bilu said.
“He turned to the families and apologized with tears in eyes,” Funke-Bilu said. “He spoke from the heart.”
Case background
A Title IX report detailing the Atascadero Unified School District’s investigation described at least seven instances in the first two weeks of the 2018 school year in which Berdoll used his smartphone or tablet to record the backsides, legs and crotches of female students in his sixth-grade 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.
Berdoll was arrested after Atascadero school district officials contacted police about a teacher suspected of inappropriately taking videos of female students’ undergarments.
Ultimately, he was accused of committing crimes against 14 adolescent female students from September 2017 and August 2018.
“Crimes against children must be strongly punished, particularly when committed by those with influence or in a position of authority over the victim,” said District Attorney Dan Dow in the news release. “While it is disappointing that the Judge did not impose a stronger sentence against this former teacher, our office will continue to advocate for appropriately tough sentences against all child predators.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 4:32 PM.
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