Child Porn Possession Lands Former School Official Six Months in Jail

A former Newark Unified school official was has been ordered to serve six months in county jail for possessing child pornography, according to media reports.

Steven Shields, 44, served as Newark Unified’s chief business official from 2008 to mid-2011.

He was sentenced Friday by a Solano County Superior Court judge, according to The Vacaville Reporter.

The sentence came after Shields pleaded no contest to one felony count of child pornography possession last month.

Shields, who was Vacaville Unified School District’s assistant superintendent at the time of his arrest, was arrested on Nov. 3, 2011 at his Clayton home.

The pornography was found on the former school official’s personal laptop, according to the Vacaville Reporter.

Shields’ work computer was not part of the investigation. 

As a precaution after his arrest, Newark Unified’s Information Department examined the entire district’s computer system and said that "everything on our end and [throughout] Newark Unified was clean." Shields did not work directly with students, the district added.